


Wolfsbane

by GoldenPaws



Series: The Chains That Bind Us [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Blood, But I have no clue about science so we'll see how that goes, But he's trying, F/M, Gen, Gore, Graphic Description of Injuries, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I have no idea what I'm doing, I think?, Like lots of it, Panic Attacks, Post-Iron Man 2, Relationship Issues, Rhodey Is a Good Bro, Science Experiments, This took a weird turn, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Has Nightmares, Tony Stark doesn't always have the best ideas, Tony Stark-centric, Tony is really lucky to have him, come on it's Tony Stark we're talking about here, if thats a thing, we'll see where that takes us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-11-24 12:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 64,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20907929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenPaws/pseuds/GoldenPaws
Summary: It all starts with a huge explosion in the lab.Granted, that’s nothing new, though this time Tony isn’t yelling at DUM-E to fucking get that fucking fire, or I swear to God I’ll donate you to a commnity college!, but he startles awake from where he’s fallen asleep on his desk after yet another all-nighter. He is not the cause of said explosion, and that’s very unusual. And worrying.“JARVIS. Is there a giant fucking wolf in my lab?”The AI doesn’t answer right away, but Tony doesn’t need one, anyway. He can see it for himself already, and yes: There really is a giant fucking wolf lying in lab.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, I'm back :D this took a lot longer to post than I expected, because a) I took a long overdue vacation and simply couldn't come up with the motivation to get anything done, and b) I simply couldn't seem to get it right, and was struggling with that first chapter for a quite a while. I'm still not perfectly happy with it, but I guess this is as good as it's going to get right now.
> 
> So yeah, hope you enjoy!

It all starts with a huge explosion in the lab.

Granted, that’s nothing new, though this time Tony isn’t yelling at DUM-E to _fucking get that fucking fire, or I swear to God I’ll donate you to a community college!_, but he startles awake from where he’s fallen asleep on his desk after yet another all-nighter. He is not the cause of said explosion, and that’s very unusual. And worrying.

His senses are already dialed up to one hundred, panic shooting through his veins before he’s even fully awake, and then he’s jumping into action, throwing himself under his desk for cover and listens to the complete chaos happening around him.

“Shit, shit, shit, JARVIS! What the fuck is going on?”, he yells over the deafening crashing sounds.

There are alarms ringing throughout the lab and he cringes from the sound, heart hammering painfully in his chest.

_I’m running scans right now, sir. It appears a foreign life form has entered the building._

“What the fuck does that mean? Oh shit, mute those alarms!”

_Very well, sir._

Just like that, the annoying, shrill warning sounds die down, and Tony breathes a sigh of relief. Okay, step one. Slowly, ever so slowly he starts to crawl out from under the desk and peaks over the top. The lab is a mess. DUM-E and U are panicking, chirping and whirring, while DUM-E is busy spraying fire extinguisher everywhere, which is just so not helpful right now.

“Stop that!”, Tony hisses from where he’s still cowering, and the bots at least stop making noise and turn towards him.

The engineer nods and straightens up a little more, grabbing onto the gauntlet he’d been working on before he fell asleep. The cool metal attaches itself to his skin and he immediatly feels better. Whatever is going on, he won’t go in defenseless. His eyes wander through the lab, and there’s even more chaos. The whole room is filled with dust and smoke. Almost every single window and glass wall has been blown to pieces. Most of his cars have been pushed back against the wall by some massive force, some of them crushed and scratched up, and Tony’s eyebrows rise. There’s even more smoke and some flames and a smell...

“God, what’s that smell?”, he gasps and covers his nose, because shit, now it’s really hitting him.

The whole massive room is filled with a terrible stench of blood and decay. It makes his heart clench even worse, because he knows that kind of smell, and it doesn’t exaclty evoke pleasant memories. It’s the kind of smell that makes you automatically shy away, because the body just knows there’s something wrong.

“JARVIS? C’mon, buddy, talk to me!”, he whispers while covering his mouth and nose with one hand.

_Still running scans, sir. But so far, it still appears that an unidentifiable life form has entered the lab._

“What the-- What do you mean? Someone broke in?”

_No. There are no signs of someone entering the room from the outside._

“Uh, what? So they just- Appeared inside?”

_It seems that way, sir._

“Okay... So, where are they now? Tell me, so I can kick some ass.”

_The unidentified life form is currently lying approximately 26 feet to your left._

Tony slowly turns that way, and-- “Oh shit, oh fuck, oh fucking shit!!!”, he screams and stumbles back a few feet, because--

Shit, oh God, there’s something in his lab, something huge, covered in blood and fur, and oh god, oh god, he’s gone insane, that’s it, he’s gone mad and this is his brain’s way of telling him, right? His heart is beating out of his chest, breath coming in short, flat puffs and he can already see his vision clouding.

“J-JARVIS, I- I think you need to call someone, be-because I... Oh God, I think I’m seeing things! That’s not- Not normal, right?”

_I can assure you, sir, that you are not hallucinating. My scanners detect another life form with approximately three and a half meters of length, though I’m currently unable to identify its exact species or origin._

Tony blinks a few times, because that’s not reassuring at all. Somehow, it makes everything even worse, because that means there’s really a huge... Something currently lying in his lab, covered in mud and blood and smelling like it died about a month ago and was just recently dug up to be dumped on his metaphorical doorstep. Going insane suddenly sounds a lot more appealing that this being his actual reality.

_I have also detected a heartbeat and a breathing rhythm._

“I’m sorry, WHAT? You’re telling me that- That thing is actually alive?”

_It is currently breathing and has a heartbeat. According to my knowledge, that qualifies as “being alive”._

“Cut the sass, J, we’re in crisis mode”, Tony replies as he straightens himself up again and takes a moment to look at the situation at hand.

There’s a huge, fur covered, living, breathing thing in his lab. No idea where it came from, no idea what it is, but either that’s the most realistic and detailed hallucination ever experienced by a human, or this is really happening. Which means he’ll have to put on his big boy pants and deal with it. Taking a deep breath, he lifts his head and raises his voice slightly.

“Okay. JARVIS, gimme everything you’ve got. And keep on scanning. I wanna know what we’re dealing with.”

_Certainly, sir. The life form appear to be alive, though its heartbeat is rather slow and its breathing is labored. Its currently losing a large amount of blood with each second, as it seems to be injured in numerous ways as well. I also detect an unknown energy it is emitting that I can’t yet identify, either, though it does not appear to be a threat at this precise moment. I still advise to proceed with caution._

“Sounds like you’re losing your touch, J”, Tony murmurs as he slowly starts to move.

That’s not a lot to go on, and it’s weird. JARVIS’s scanners usually pick up a lot more information, and with the amount of data he has at his disposal, there shouldn’t be any problem identifying even the weirdest things. This is a first - Which makes it scary, but also all the more interesting. Tony is, after all, a man of science, and things like that tickle his brain in the most delicious way. If his AI can’t provide him with any answers, maybe this situation calls for a more hands-on approach.

With the repulser poised and ready to fire at a moments notice, he slowly makes his way down the stairs and towards the giant, stinking mountain of fur. Now that he’s getting a little closer, the smell is getting even worse. Tony has to take a moment to pull his shirt collar up over his nose, because he does not need to throw up on top of everything else. His eyes are actually burning, and he gags once he stand right in front of a wall of fur.

“Oooooh, that’s blood, that’s a loooooooot of blood, oh shit, ugh, this is the worst!”, he mutters and starts breathing through his mouth, which helps a little at least, “god, the smell, I’ve never smelled anything worse, how is it possible for anything to smell this bad?”

_My scans have detected several severely infected wounds. The puss and necrotic flesh might explain the rather unpleasant odor._

Tony swallows down some bile and tries not to think about flesh rotting away in his very nice, usually very sterile lab. This is going to be such a nightmare to clean up, and there’s no way in heaven or hell that DUM-E will be able to handle that... Shaking his head and re-adjusting his shirt, he slowly reaches forward and- Touches the fur.

It’s weird, because for some reason he was sure there would be nothing there. Just a dream, and then he’d realize just that and wake up, and everything would be normal. But his fingers touch fur, and it feels too real for all of this to be a hallucination. Coarse and rough, slippery with blood, which sticks to his fingers when he pulls back. Also his fingers smell disgusting now, too, and he wipes them on the back of his jeans with a grimace. Okay, so, this is real. He can see it, he can smell it, he can touch it-- Oh shit, and he can hear it, because there’s a low rumbling sound running through the entire lab all of a sudden. It’s not a very loud sound, but deep and pervasively, vibrating through the floor and the walls and making the remaining parts of the glass walls shake ever so slightly. It’s a completely alien sensation to feel it run through his body, something he hasn’t even experienced with the volume turned up to maximum and the bass pounding across his entire property.

“Holy shit”, Tony mumbles once the sound fades away again, “what the fuck _is_ that?”

He starts to walk again, this time towards the right, hand stretched out and running through the fur along the way. More rumbling, and Tony can’t help but stare and wonder and think that if this is an actual hallucination, it’s a pretty damn convincing one. He almost wants to high-five his brain for the effort it’s putting into fucking him up.

After a few slow strides, he reaches the end of the that thing - And sees a head.

“Huh. A head.”

_An astute observation as always, sir._

“Careful, J, this is a special day for Daddy”, he mutters distractedly as he crouches down in front of it and takes a good look. Yeah, it’s a head. A huge one, covered in fur and again, a lot of blood, but undeniably a head. A snout, to be exact, and eyes, and ears, and...

“JARVIS. Is there a giant fucking wolf in my lab?”

The AI doesn’t answer right away, but Tony doesn’t need one, anyway. He can see it for himself already, and yes: There really is a giant fucking wolf lying in lab.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with another chapter! I've had it ready for a while, but I wasn't quite happy with it yet, so it took a while to edit ^^ Well, here it is!  
Slight warning for blood and gore, and graphic descriptions of wounds.  
Again, lemme know what you think, and I hope you enjoy!  
(Also, uni is starting rather slow, so I'm confident I'll be able to post regularly for now!)
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

Tony decides then and there that he needs a drink. Actually, make that three drinks - Ah, let’s be realistic, a whole bottle might just suffice! He stumbles through the lab, determinedly not looking back at whatever the fuck is happening behind him, focusing on simply getting to his booze shelf and pulling out a bottle.

The occassion calls for something special, so he settles on a bottle of Scotch he got back when he officially became CEO of Start Industries (and no, he definitely doesn’t want to think about that time, either), cracks it, and takes a few deep gulps. The alcohol burns down his throat and settles heavily in his stomach. He drinks until a good third of the bottle is gone, and his heartbeat has slowed down just a little bit. Setting it down heavily on the closest surface, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes again. This is so fucked up! Considering that there is a lot of evidence speaking against this being a hallucination/ dream/ anything else but reality, the future doesn’t look all too bright.

“What’s happening, J?”, he asks lowly, as he blinks his eyes open and rubs a hand over his sweaty face.

_Vitals have dropped slightly since my last scans about five minutes ago. The heartbeat is slowing down, as is the breathing. The blood loss has progressed to a most likely life threatening point. I am still unable to diagnose the energy it seems to be emitting._

Tony frowns and turns back towards the... Wolf (God, this is weird!). Looking closely, he can actually see its back moving ever so slightly. So yeah, its alive, although the way JARVIS made it sound, it might not be for much longer. Taking another sip of Scotch, he cracks his neck, rotates his shoulders and starts walking towards the wolf again. He is, after all, a scientist. And fuck it, but he can’t just- Actually, he has no idea what the alternatives are as opposed to what he’s about to do. Man of science, after all. And what do scientists do when they encounter a huge, possibly dangerous/ life threatining problem? They start poking it.

“Keep the suit ready, JARVIS”, he mutters as he re-adjusts his gauntlet and makes sure it’s ready to fire (and hopefully get him a few seconds of advantage in case of an emergency), “keep running those scans, let me know if there are any significant changes.”

_What would classify as a significant change in this situation, sir?_

“You figure that out, buddy!”

If he was programmed to do so, the AI would probably sigh, but he stays silent. Probably consulting Google on giant wolves crashing into private labs, if he’s getting really desperate. Tony has reached the- Wolf again, and is staring down at his face. Yup, that’s a wolf. A lot bigger than any animal has any right to be, but a wolf nontheless. The engineer has gotten over the worst of the smell by now, though it still makes his eyes burns standing this close. Taking a deep breath (in and out through the mouth, because he might pass out otherwise) he crouches down and takes an even closer look.

Okay, so- Lots of blood. It’s seeping through the thick, grey-white fur, and covering the previously mostly clean floor. A nightmare to clean up again, but nothing that can be helped right now. Studying the big face right in front of him, Tony breathes a small sigh of relief. Its eyes are closed, and they will hopefully stay that way. This close, he can actually hear the slow, laboured breathing. It sounds wet and rattling. Not a good sign.

“Looks like someone did a number on it, huh?”, he murmurs and can’t help but wince when his eyes catch onto a huge slice on its neck, dark with fresh blood.

_My scans detect an extensive list of injuries, though I cannot guarantee for its accuracy, seeing as there is no comparable data at my disposal._

“Hit me, J. Let’s get this over with.”

_Certainly, sir. So far, I have detected a flesh wound on its neck, a fractured shoulder and front leg on its left side, along with what appears to be an arrow lodged into it. There are four cracked ribs, one of which might be broken. Its right hind leg seems to be severely damaged as well, both from another arrow and a deep cut that may have damaged the muscle and nerves. There is another arrow located in its right side which appears to have been pushed deeply into its stomach upon landing, adding to the already alarming blood loss. Along with that, I detect several older wounds that are infected and/ or already necrotic, hence the strong stench. Overall, the prognosis does not look too good._

“Fuck...”, Tony murmurs and runs a hand through his greasy hair.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound too good. That sounds fucking awful, actually. For a moment he forgets about the fucked-upness of this whole situation, and just looks at the creature lying motionlessly on the floor. There hasn’t been so much as a twitch since he came closer, because... Well, because--

“It’s dying.”

_ Indeed, sir. And at a rapid pace at that._

“Shit.”

For a moment he drops the gauntlet to his side and just - Looks. At the blood and the obviously broken bones (because there is no way that shoulder is supposed to look that way, jesus), the clearly visible ribs and hip bones, and the generally sorry state the thing seems to be in. It’s a sad image, simple as that. What a shitty way to go. Slowly bleeding out on the cold floor in a lab in Malibu, with only a sad, messed up human wreck for company.

“Seems like life hasn’t been kind to you lately, huh?”, Tony mutters and reaches a hand forward.

Without thinking about it too much, he brushes it over the coarse fur, then inching forward and burying his fingers in the thick, warm pelt, gently scratching its scalp.

**Thump**.

Tony squeaks (which is a noise he will deny ever making until his dying breath) and falls onto his ass in an anything but graceless way. It’s quiet again, and he looks around frantically, trying to find the source of that damn noise. But there is nothing, which is not exactly reassuring. Tony knows his lab intimately, and he knows the sounds and noises each and every single item in here would make. That soft, muffled **thump** is definitely new, and he doesn’t like that.

“What the hell...”, he murmurs, slowly scrambling back to his feet again, looking at the wolf’s face.

Eyes are still closed, and there is no other movement, other than the slow, flat breathing. Still frowning and looking around, he pushes his fingers back into the fur, because it feels weird and also kind of nice, rough and soft at the same time.

**Thump. Thump thump.**

“What the fuck- JARVIS, where’s that sound coming from?”, he hisses, fingers clenching in the pelt and scratching the scalp a little rougher by accident.

**Thump thump thump. Thump thump.**

This time, Tony catches a movement out of the corner of his eye and turns towards it, towards the wolf’s back legs. And that’s- Oh. That’s where the noise is coming from, and Tony’s throat closes up.

“J, is it... Is it wagging its tail?”

_It appears that way, sir._

“What does that mean? Why is it doing that? That’s- That’s what they do when they’re happy, right? That’s a good thing. I mean, with dogs at least. I think.”

Tony knows shit all about wolves and even dogs. He’s never been a big fan of animals in general, and has barely had any contact with them over the last few decades - Until now. Only exception being that little rat one of his brief and fiery affairs called her “baby”. The thing was trembling the whole time, would snap at his fingers and ended up chewing through a pair of three hundred dollar shoes. But Tony does remember it wagging its tail whenever its owner (Sarah? Sandra? Sadie? Something like that, maybe) would call it over.

_Dogs and wolves do not share the exact same body language, sir. According to the information available on the internet, there are significant differences. Although they are still able communicate with each other, it can come to misunderstandings. Scientists compare their--_

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, no need to go into detail!”, Tony growls and scans the wolf’s face for any apparent changes, “but this- This right here. This very situation. That could- That could be a good sign, right?”

_It could be interpreted that way, yes, although I strongly recommend--_

“Alright, thanks, dear. Gonna test my theory now, so wish me luck!” With that, he shuffles forward again and does decidedly not think about how he’s going to keep on petting a giant wolf for the sole reason of determining wether it likes it.

Not his best idea, probably, but he’s too invested by now to even consider backing off again. Checking to make sure the wolf’s eyes are still closed, he leans forward and slowly, gently runs his hand from its forehead up over its scalp and towards the back of its head. He has to lean forward and over to reach that far, and there it is again--

**Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump.**

It’s wagging its giant tail again. It’s a slow, almost sluggish movement, but it’s there. Tony pulls his hand back, and the movement stops as well. He pushes his hand into the warm fur again, petting and scratching for a few seconds, and it starts again.

**Thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump.**

“C’mon, JARVIS. You can’t tell me it doesn’t like that! You like that, huh?”, he murmurs turning towards the wolf again, smiling ever so slightly, “you like being--”

And then he breaks off, because its eyes are open, and its staring back at him. Tony can feel his heart starting to race again as his fingers freeze mid-motion, and he has to swallow down a scream. But the wolf doesn’t do anything - Doesn’t open his maw and bite off Tony’s leg, doesn’t jump to its feet and start eating him. It doesn’t really do anything but lie there and stare at Tony, lying completely still.

“Uh... Hi?”

Tony wants to slap himself, because this is not the moment to be stupid. But he’s isn’t being punished for his absolute idiocy. The wolf blinks at him, and that’s about it. No killing, no slaughter, which the engineer is willing to take as a good sign. For now.

“Well, this is kinda awkward”, he mutters after a moment and tries for a small smile again.

Another blink, and Tony finds that he can’t quite pull his gaze away. Those eyes are fascinating. They are deep golden, with specks of light brown close to the iris, and there’s something eerily human and aware about them. They both stare at each other for a few moments, and Tony’s hands start to card through the thick fur again.

**Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump. **

“You _do_ like that, don’t you?”

**Thump thump thump thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump. **

“Yeah, you do. Doesn’t matter what JARVIS says.”

It’s such a bizarre moment he can’t help but grin. Sitting on the floor of his lab and petting a giant wolf that appeared on his property out of nowhere. Life sure as shit can be weird sometimes. Especially his life. He startles back into the present moment when the wolf begin to move. It’s not much, but it does try to wiggle closer, greedily inhaling the air and pressing its cold, wet nose against Tony’s jeans clad leg.

“Hey- HEY, whoa, take it easy, will you?”, he engineer yelps as the animal pushes its nose against his thigh, against his chest, inhaling deeply and then puffing out the warm air, “J, what’s going on? Is it- Oh God, is it trying to eat me?!?”

_I doubt that, sir. According to my research, wolves rely heavily on their sense of smell for sensory input, making it their primary source of information about their environment. It appears it is currently trying to gather some information about you, sir._

“So it’s... Smelling me?”

_It appears so, sir._

God, this is weird! Tony can’t really do anything but sit there and let it happen, grimacing when that wet, cold nose brushes against his naked skin, doing his best not to flinch away, because sudden movements never help during difficult situations. After a few more moments of being smelled, the wolf drops its huge head heavily onto the ground again, letting out a deep breath. Tony stays quiet for a moment just to be sure. Then he takes a deep breath himself and cocks his head, looking back into the golden eyes.

“You done? Got everything you need?”

The wolf blinks again, slower than before, and then his eyes fall shut again. The engineer waits for a couple of seconds, but when they don’t open again, he starts petting again.

**Thump.... Thump... Thump... **

“Is it falling asleep, JARVIS?”, he asks quietly and scratches the thick skull again.

_I’m afraid that is not quite the case, sir. Its vitals are dropping with every minute. It is more likely that it is slowly dying._

And Tony knew that, but all of a sudden, it kind of hurts a lot more than before.

“How much longer?”

_With the information currently available I have calculated about three more hours. Four at most._

“Shit...”, Tony sighs and pulls back.

Rubbing his hand over his face turns out to be a bad decision, since he only ends smearing blood and grease onto his skin, but he can’t really be bothered right now. Staring at the huge mess currently displayed right in front of him he feels his stomach drop down to his knees. The thing is dying. Right in here in his lab.

Which is -Bad. Mostly because Tony has no idea what to do with a giant wolf corpse. He can’t just leave it here, obviously, but where exactly is he supposed to put it, then? Assuming he finds an efficient way to move it first, that is.

“JARVIS, how do you get rid of such a huge carcass?”

_The most obvious solution seems to be burying it on your property. There is a lot of available land, and very little chance of any neighbor witnessing the process._

“So, I’ll spend the night digging a whole.”

_A rather spacious one at that. But it should be manageable, considering the availability of the suit, sir._

“Great”, the engineer grumbles and pushes a rough hand through his messy hair, “just great. Other options?”

_You could also attempt to burn the body, though you would need a rather big fire. The smell might also attract more attention, as well as the sight of such a huge bonfire. It would also take a long time to burn the corpse to a point where it is no longer recognizable as one._

“What else?”

_Another option would be the ocean. You’d have to cut up the body in order to transport it far enough--_

“Okay, okay, no, that’s definitely not an option! Forget about the ocean, and the whole... Cutting up part”, he says with a shudder, because that’s not something he’ll ever do.

He can’t just- Cut up bodies and throw them into the ocean. No way he’d ever be able to have a drink on his balcony or terrace, watching the sun set over the ocean, without constantly thinking about the fish happily munching on the wolf’s body. No fucking way. Without thinking about it too much, he leans forward and starts scratching behind those huge, strangely soft ears.

Another way to make an unwanted body vanish is to try and dissolve it in acid. This seems a rather unrealistic approach in this case, seeing as you would need an enormous container for both acid and carcass, as well as the problem of then disposing of the remaining acid.

**Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... **

The tail sluggish wags against the ground as Tony drags his hand through the dirty pelt. The wolf blinks his eyes open for a few moments and nudges his wet nose against Tony’s knee. Then, those golden eyes slip shut again and a shudder runs through the giant frame.

_All other options I have found so far do not seem practical considering the current situation at hand. Would you like for me to continue the search?_

“No... No, I think we’re good for now.”

**Thump... Thump... Thump...**

His fingers burry themselves in the soft under fur and he takes a few deep, not at all calming breaths. He feels pretty shitty. Not just because his knees are starting to complain and his back is cramping, but mostly because there’s a living, breathing... Something lying at his feet, and he’s contemplating how to get rid of it before it’s even taken its final breath. That’s a pretty shitty thing to do.

**Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump thump thump thump... **

The tail wagging intensifies once Tony reaches just behind the fluffy ears and scratches there. The wolf even goes so far as to let out a low, soft rumbling sound that the engineer is taking as a sign of contentment.

“Can wolves purr, J?”

_I’m afraid not, sir. That is an expression solely reserved to different species of cats, including the domesticated kinds. Though there are a few dog breeds that emit a rumbling sound, not unlike the one you just heard, whenever they are content and comfortable._

“Hear that? You’ve got no business purring. You’re a freaking wolf”, Tony scoffs and scratches its head again, elicting more of those deep, apparently content sounds.

**Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... **

Tony has no idea how long he stays like this, kneeling next to the wolf’s huge snout, gently scratching behind its ears and petting its filthy fur. The wolf keeps on rumbling and sometimes nudges his knee when he takes a break longer than a few seconds, as if urging him to continue. He stares at its face and thinks that these are its last moments, and it just so happens to spend them here. And in just a few hours, Tony will have to get up and find a way to make that enormous body disappear without anyone noticing. That thought makes bile rise in the back of his throat.

“How much longer, JARVIS?”

There’s a brief moment of silence as the AI runs his scans and analytics, before answering.

_Its vitals have dropped further since my last scans. With the information currently available, I’d estimate about three hours at the most._

Time is running out. Of course it is. There is blood seeping into his jeans and he can hear the wet, ragged breaths, can at least guess at the shattered bones. It’s no surprise. But that doesn’t make it suck any less. And suddenly, Tony is done sitting on his ass waiting for the inevitable to happen.

“Alright, that- Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

_What exactly do you mean by that, sir?_

“That, uh... That I- Shit, I can’t just let it die here, J! Is there anything- Anyway to help it? I dunno, stop the bleeding, get those arrows out, apply some aloe vera and hope for the best?”

The AI is silent for a few moments, and Tony wonders if he has done it now - If JARVIS is ready to give up and call for back-up, sending him to a closed institution with nice doctors, where everyone gets a free, white jacket. Sure, he’ll admit that it might not be his best idea, but is it really that insane? Probably, but he likes to think he’s had worse ideas this past week alone.

_There would certainly be the option to try and treat its wounds. However, there is no guarantee it would prevent or even slow the--_

“Yeah, yeah, no guarantee is fine!”, Tony interrupts, waving his hands impatiently, “that’s not what I’m asking for. All I’m asking for is a slight chance that I might not make it worse, and, best case scenario, make it actually better? Think that’s in the realm of possibility?”

_I cannot currently estimate--_

“Okay, forget I ask, then! Just- tell me what to do. How do I... Make this better?”, Tony asks, vaguely gesturing into the direction of all the blood, broken bones, cuts, and whatever else.

_You would need quite a lot of supplies you do not currently have at hand, at least not in the required scale--_

“Order it, then! And make it quick! I hear we don’t have that much time left.”

Again, Tony gets the impression that the AI is suppressing a sigh, but of course JARVIS does as he’s told. While the impressively long list of apparently necessary supplies is scrolling through on some of the monitors, Tony leans forward and gently nudges the wolf’s nose.

“Hey, you.”

It snuffles, then blinks its tired eyes open to look at him again. They’ve got that clouded look of someone fevered and confused, and Tony doesn’t like that. Instead of frowning, he does his best to smile and scratch at its forehead.

“Hope you weren’t planning on eating me anytime soon, ‘cause I’m gonna try and stitch you up a bit. That alright with you?”

The only answer is a small huff and its golden eyes sliding shut again.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again with another chapter! It's been a lot of fun writing so far, and I've got a few more ideas. For now, I guess there'll be around 10-15 chapters total, but I'm really bad estimating stuff like that, so don't take my word for it ^^"
> 
> Again, warnings for blood and gore and graphic descriptions of injuries, all that fun stuff.
> 
> Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

While JARVIS is busy placing orders (“And make that an emergency, dear, we’re in a bit of a hurry!” /_Certainly, sir. I’ll make sure the supplies arrive as soon as possible_. / “Make that sooner than possible, we’re still in crises mode!” /_ As you wish, sir._), Tony takes a few minutes to get a vague idea of what he’s going to have to deal with. Making his way around the enormous form, he takes a few moments to brush aside fur and blood and grease to take a closer look.

It’s a mess, to say the least. Even with JARVIS’s list of injuries, seeing it for himself and up close is still a lot worse than expected. There’s way too much blood, and most of the wounds are in fact infected, hot to the touch and oozing puss when he gently presses against the inflamed edges. It’s absolutely disgusting, and the smell is atrocious, making him gag again.

“Make sure to order about a container full of air freshener as well.”

_Of course, sir. Do you have any preference concerning the smell?_

“Nah, just something that’ll cover... All of this.”

_I’m not sure a simple air freshener--_

“Then order whatever the fuck will help. Find a solution. I’m kinda busy.”

Then, it’s back to examining the clusterfuck right in front of him. Time passes, and the longer he goes, the more hopeless it all seems. The wolf barely twitches whenever he touches the painful looking cuts and open breaks, and that can’t be a good sign. Then again, it sure as hell makes things easier. The engineer doubts he’d be able to sedate it, and he can only hope that it’ll be too far gone by the time the actual stitching-up part starts to try and bite his head off. But the thing is, Tony isn’t even sure where he’d begin to try and make any of this better, or at least less awful. There’s just- So much.

After a few more rounds he sighs and crouches down next to the wolf’s head again. His hand automatically makes its way into the coarse fur, and he starts petting again.

** _Thump... Thump... Thump..._ **

The movement is barely there by now, but it still make his throat go tight. He’s sure by now that he can’t just let this thing die, weird and dangerous as it might be. That’s just not his style. He is Tony Fucking Stark, after all. He’s not the kind of man to just stand by and watch anyone, or anything, die on his watch. He’s got to at least try. Even if it ends up costing him his head.

“How’s that order coming along, J?”

_It will be here in approximately two minutes._

“Good, I’ll go and-- Actually, nevermind. Tell whoever’s there to just put it all on the doormat, I’ll get it later.”

It’s probably not a good idea to greet the innocent delivery guy in bloodstained jeans and a sweat-soaked shirt. He has no problem with the pizza man seeing him in less than stellar conditions, but this is crossing a few more lines than he’s comfortable with. Also, even Tony Fucking Stark can’t really tell the police to get the fuck off his property without any consequences, so he’ll just wait for now.

_The delivery truck has left the property and is driving off towards--_

“Awesome!”, Tony yells and jumps to his feet, already sprinting towards the door and up the stairs.

He races through the spacious living room and the hallway, not thinking about the kind of footprints he’s leaving on the expensive floor (Pepper is going to kill him!) as he opens the door and peers outside. Nope, there’s no one there, and so he grabs the first two boxes and carries them downstairs.

All in all, there are six big boxes, more or less heavy, and he wonders what the hell JARVIS decided to order while he hurries down the stairs one last time. Hands on his hips and breathing slightly elevated he looks back at the wolf still lying motionless in the middle of the room.

“No interruptions, J, absolutely none. Only exceptions being Pepper and Rhodey, and even then: Ask them what it is, and if it’s not the apocalypse happening in Las Vegas, I’m not interested. Are we clear on that?”

_Crystal, sir. I’ll make sure to intercept any incoming calls and find excuses for your absence._

“And that’s why I love you so much.”

Then, he’s back to looking at the wolf and wondering where he’ll even start. He has no idea. Wherever he looks there seems to be something that needs his attention immediately, and that’s only the one side he can see. Considering what JARVIS said so far, he isn’t sure he even wants to see any more. But despairing isn’t his style, either, so he takes a deep breath and shakes off the that feeling of hopelessness.

“Walk me through it, JARVIS. Tell me what to do, step by step. Start with the most urgent problem, then we’ll work our way up to the lighter stuff.”

_As you wish, sir. I’d suggest you start by removing the arrows in its shoulder and its right hind leg._

That’s how Tony finds himself gripping the shaft of a seemingly oversized arrow stuck in one of the hind legs and _pulls_. The sound it makes as it slides free is absolutely disgusting, but he’s glad it’s not all that difficult to pull out completely. With a relieved breath he throws it at the nearest table and wipes hand on the back of his jeans.

“We’re gonna take a look at that later. Don’t touch it yet!”, he adds with a stern glance at DUM-E.

The robot whirrs in a disappointed way but backs off immediately. Tony waits for another second before turning back towards his patient. The second arrow is located in the left shoulder, and he has to stretch pretty high to even reach it. This one doesn’t come lose so easily, since the angle is shit and Tony can’t put enough muscle into the movement.

“Aw, c’mon”, he curses and wipes some sweat from his forehead, “okay, here goes nothing. Lemme try something else...”

Grimacing ever so slightly he lifts his foot and places it against the breast bone. When that doesn’t elicit any response, he dares to put some more pressure onto the limb, pushing himself back and pulling with all of his strength. The arrow comes lose and Tony falls onto his ass once again. The arrow falls to the ground but he pays it no mind as he climbs back to his feet and looks at the fresh blood flowing out of the now opened wound.

“Uh, JARVIS?”

_Apply pressure to the wound, sir._

“Okay, okay”, he murmurs and digs through the already opened box, pulling out a clean white towel.

Turning back towards the wolf he slaps it onto the wound, leaning up and over as he presses down. The towel is soaked through in no time at all, and he has to grab the next one. That one takes a little longer to turn completely red, and the third one stays at least partly dry. The engineer breathes a sigh of relief and he gently pets the trembling flank with his free hand.

“Hey, you better stop that bleeding. Can’t have you dying now.”

The wolf rumbles lowly, and Tony closes his eyes for a moment. He’s already covered in sweat, and he’s barely started.

_I’d suggest to now wash and disinfect your hands and arms. I’ve ordered some surgical gloves you can put on afterwards._

Tony pushes himself up and does as he’s told. Washing his hand at the sink (and using the surgical soap and disinfectant to a seemingly excessive extent) he listens to JARVIS detailing the next steps of their battle plan.

_While it would be best to dress the wounds on its left side now, the arrow lodged into its abdomen on the right side is causing a lot more stress on its body. I’d suggest getting it to move onto its other side and take care of that specific wound first before worrying about anything else._

“And how exactly am I gonna do that?”

_Your guess is as good as mine, sir._

“Fucking great”, Tony grumbles as he turns off the water and walks back towards his patient.

No way he’ll be able to move that mountain of fur by himself. He could get the suit, but he’s not sure that’s the best course of action right now. Better try and get the wolf to move on its own, and so he places he hands on its spine and simply starts to _push_. He can feel the fur and muscles and bones shift under his palms, but he can also tell that it’s far from being enough. So, he takes a deep breath and pushes some more. This time, there’s another low grumbling sound, though it doesn’t sound as happy and content as the one before.

“Come on, buddy. Work with me here. Just a little”, he pants as he plants his feet a little wider apart (taking care not to slip on the blood covering the floor) and leans his entire weight into the push.

To his surprise, it actually works. Somehow, he must’ve succeeded and made the wolf uncomfortable enough to whine and roll onto its other side. The whole floor shakes when it flops down again, and Tony barely catches himself when his support slips away. But, then it’s done. The once clean floor is painted in a deep red, fresh blood making it slippery and the smell clogging up his nose. Disgusting.

“There we go”, he sighs and walks closer once again, “now, let’s see-- Ah, okay, yeah, yeah, I see it, I see, oh God, I fucking see it.”

The arrow in barely visible, buried almost to the hilt in the wolf’s flank. Thick, almost black blood is slowly flowing out of the hole, and Tony already has a bad feeling about this. Might’ve pierced an organ, and what’s he going to do then? Still panting slightly he grabs a nearby chair and places it as close to the wolf as he dares. Stepping onto it, he again peers down onto the arrow and feels the nausea rise in the back of his throat.

“You really want me to pull that out, J?”

_There is currently no other option available. Though removing the arrow will accelerate the bleeding for a moment, it will also give you the opportunity to tend to the internal injuries._

“Alright”, Tony murmurs as he leans forward and grabs onto the small piece of arrow he can actually reach, “so, I’ll pull - And then?”

_Then I will run a scan and determine which organs are injured and if there is any way for you to fix it without any additional tools._

“Sounds like a horrible plan. Let’s do this.”

This time, he doesn’t hesitate to plant his foot on the wolf’s ribcage, lean back and pull with all of his strength. The arrow shifts, but it’s stuck. Tony curses under his breath, relaxes his arms for a moment, then starts pulling again. It’s a slow process, and it takes ages to get the damn thing loose. By the time it comes free with a disgusting slurping sound, Tony is drenched in sweat and-- And then the blood starts pouring out at an even more rapid rate, and he’s scrambling to get more towels. The first one is soaked within seconds, the second and third one, too, and the fourth one holds for about a minute.

“JARVIS, tell me what to do!”, he yells over the sound of his racing heart, “it’s bleeding out, you need to move that circuit board of yours and hurry the fuck up!”

_Scan complete. There is a puncture wound in its intestines which needs to be--_

“Yeah, yeah, okay, just TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”

The fourth towels is drenched now, too, his hands are covered in blood up to his elbows, and the heavy smell of blood is clogging up all of his sense.

_Surgery would be the best option, but there is no time left according to my calculations. The quickest and most efficient course of action would be to cauterize the wound and hope it will slow down the blood loss._

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

But Tony doesn’t even ask for another option. Towel number five is well on its way to get soaked through, so he jumps down from the chair and races through the lab. It barely takes him ten seconds to find a metal rod long, slim and sturdy enough to serve his plan, and heating it up under a welder until the tip is glowing brightly takes less than a minute. Carefully climbing up onto the chair again, Tony leans forward and pushes the towel away.

It’s not a pretty sight. There’s still blood pouring out at an alarming rate, and he does his best to clean most of it away so that he can see the open wound. He’ll have to plunge the heated rod right in. The thought makes him shudder and gag. He’d love nothing more than to just turn around and run off, because there are about a thousand things he’d rather do than any of this shit.

“You’ll have to guide me, J.”

_I will, sir. But I suggest you take precautionary aim. I expect it to react violently the moment the rod comes into contact with the flesh, so you won’t have much time to get it right._

“Spoken like a true optimist. Alright, where do I aim?”

JARVIS directs him to adjust the rod at a slightly skewed angle, pointing just a little towards the front end of the wolf’s body. Taking a deep breath, Tony tenses his muscles and clenches his jaw.

“Sorry about this, buddy”, he murmurs--

And then plunges the rod into its body. The whole wolf twitches, then jumps, its front body rising as its head snaps up and it roars. The sound echoes throughout the entire house and Tony’s ears start ringing. No way he can hear JARVIS’s guiding voice, so he has to guess from what he’s been told by the AI before, cringing at the sound of sizzeling flesh. If he thought the smell of blood was bad, this is a thousand time worse. The smell of burning flesh is overwhelming, flooding his nose and throat, and a moment later he is flying towards the ground, because the wolf has kicked out and hit the chair. The metal rod falls to the ground next to him and his head hits the marvel floor with a sickening crunch. Pain explodes through his skull and black dots appear in his vision as he lies motionless for a moment or two before passing out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! I'm actually surprised how well this story is coming along, so I'll keep on updating as much as possible.  
Again, warning for blood and gore, but things will start to look up soon!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, lemme know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

_Sir. Sir, If there is no response within the next thirty seconds, I will be forced to initiate emergency protocols and call for an ambulance, as well as contact Mr. Rhodes._

Tony groans, because this sucks. It’s way too early, and he’s still so tired- And, come to think of it, he’s also pretty sore. His head is pounding, and he feels like he ran a marathon (which will never happen, thank you very much). Did he go out last night? Get drunk? This feels like a hangover. Whiskey? Tequila? No... Vodka?

_Sir, if you can hear me, I need--_

“Yeah, yeah, I’m up, dear”, the engineer grumbles and forces his eyes open.

Bad idea. A stabbing kind of pain explodes in his head, and he flinches, slamming his eyes shut again.

“What the fuck... Lights down, J! Ten percent”, he hisses as he carefully massages his temples, “shit, I’m getting too old for this--”

And that’s when he remembers. This is not a hangover. This is something else entirely. With a low groan, he blinks his eyes open again and lifts his head ever so slightly. Yeah, there’s the wolf. Lying motionless on its right side. He can see the big paws, the snout, and a lot of fur. That’s about it, but it’s enough to bring back some memories. Right, he was busy cauterizing the puncture wound, after pulling out that arrow, because the wolf was bleeding out.

“JARVIS, how’re we doing right now?”, he asks as he struggles into an upright position.

His head hurts and the room is spinning around him, but he doesn’t throw up, which is good. Blinking a few times, he cracks his neck and plants his palms on the wet floor. Slowly, carefully, he starts to push himself onto his feet, while JARVIS starts bringing him up to speed.

_You have succeeded in cauterizing the puncture wound. The bleeding has stopped by now, and the blood loss seems to have dropped to manageable level. It has not woken up so far. I’d advise to now take care of the other wounds and start to desinfect and dress them._

“No rest for the wicked”, Tony groans as he takes a moment to steady himself, “alright, turn the lights back up, I’m ready to go!”

_Of course, sir. I would also advise you to get medical attention, as I suspect you have--_

“J, we both know that’s not gonna happen. So, tell me what I need to do. We’re still not out of the woods yet!”

That’s easy to see, too. While the blood flow may have stopped (at least part of it), the floor is still covered, and while the wolf may be staying still, that doesn’t necessarily have to be a good sign.

“Vitals, J”, Tony murmurs as he takes off the blood covered gloves and walks towards the sink.

While he washes his hands and arms again and puts on a new pair of surgical gloves, the AI tells him what he already suspected: Bleeding has slowed, vitals are (for the moment) a little less unstable, it’s still alive and breathing. Still doesn’t look too good, and Tony can tell the AI is trying to gently make him see reason. Shame that reason and Tony have never really been all that close.

“So, what’s next on our list, buddy?”, the engineer asks with slightly forced cheer as he walks back towards the wolf and pets his flank.

There’s no more tail wagging, but there is that low, rumbling sound again, which he takes as a good sign. No energy to even open its eyes, but it can still purr.

“You’re weird one, huh?”, he mutters as he pulls away again and rotates his shoulders a couple of times, “seems like you fit in perfectly, then. Alright, J, what’s taking so long? We’re ready for action again!”

_As you wish, sir. I advise to now clean out the infected wounds and dress them to the best of your abilities._

“No need to make it sound so insulting, dear.”

_I would never, sir._

“Of course not. Alright, let’s get this show on the road! Where do we start?”

And that’s how Tony starts following his AI’s guidance as he methodically makes his way through the whole mess. It starts with the arrow wound he cauterized just a short while ago. The bleeding has stopped, and so JARVIS walks him through cleaning the remaining blood away, then stitching the wound up “to the best of his abilities”, again. Tony will be the first to admit that sewing is so not one of his strong suits, so he does as good of a job as he can. Not like anyone will be around to comment on the fact that the stitches turn out a little skewed and crooked, and at the very least they hold the skin together. Opening another box, he pulls out whatever he’ll need to dress it, and slaps a self-adherent bandage on top of the wound. There is no way he can bandage it any other way, so this is as good as it’s going to get.

Then comes one of Tony’s least favorite moments of this whole rather fucked up experience: Cutting away the rotten flesh.

“I’m sorry, WHAT? You want me to- WHAT?”

_The tissue cannot be saved. If it’s not removed, the necrosis will infect the remaining, healthy flesh. Cutting it off is the only available option as of now._

“... You really hate me, don’t you, J?”, Tony groans as he burries his head in his hands.

This is- Ugh, he can’t even find the words to properly express how much he _doesn’t_ want to do that! Closing his eyes, he listens to the wolf’s laboured breathing and wonders if this is karma. If this is him paying for some shit he did in a past life. Or maybe for some of the shit he did in this life. Sure, he’s been working on his karma, but he doubts he’s anywhere close to paying off his debt.

“How do I--”

_I have ordered a set of surgical scalpels._

“Fantastic”, the engineer mutters, but he opens another box, and sure enough, there is said set of scalpels, clean and sharp and ready for use.

He wants to gag, but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes one of them into his trembling hand and slowly turns back towards the wolf. Still no movement, and that’s a blessing. With a sigh and a slight shudder running down his spine, Tony steels himself.

“Where do I start?”

_The necrosis is mostly located on its legs, its ankles to be precise. I’d suggest starting there._

So Tony makes his way towards the front legs. Yeah, it’s not difficult to see. The legs are cut up, and not just around the ankles, even if it’s worst there. Deep, bloody cuts, and, oh God--

“Is, uh... Is that the bone?”

_I’m afraid so, sir._

Yup, he can see bone through the cut up muscle and tissue. The skin and flesh that’s still intact is covered in scars, long and uneven, not like from a knife, but rather... Teeth? Yeah, kinda looks like teeth marks. Tony cringes as he reaches out and presses experimentally against the heated skin. Infection, and according to AI, it’s spreading. Not considering the black flesh closer to the wound’s edges. It stinks in an absoultely disgusting way.

“So I just- Start cutting?”

_Yes, sir._

“I fucking hate karma”, Tony mutters, and starts to cut.

The wolf twitches a couple of time, but other than that, it stays mostly still. Tony spends the next minutes cursing and gagging as he cuts away the black flesh generously, making sure he doesn’t miss a single patch. His hands are already covered in blood again, but right now it’s almost a relief to see it flowing once the rotten skin is gone. JARVIS tells him that he’d actually have to stitch those wounds up, but since the skin is already pulled so far apart, there’s no use to it. They’ll just have to wrap it up and hope for the best. It takes a lot longer than he thought it would, and by the end of it almost an hour has passed. Then, it takes another hour to clean those wounds. Tony ends up just pouring warm water and alcohol right on top and rubbing it in with his gloved hands, spreading antibiotic cream over the damaged skin and then hurriedly bandaging it all, since the wolf now starts to twitch and pull its legs away whenever the engineer touches them, making that high pitched, pitiful whimpering sound. JARVIS tells him it’s a sign of fear and distress. Tony doesn’t like it.

“And what happened to it, anyway? I mean, those cuts, they don’t look natural.”

_If I had to make a guess it would be that these wounds were caused by some form of fetter or chain._

“Chained down, huh?”, Tony mutters and clenches his teeth, “yeah, I don’t really like the sound of that. Can relate, though, so don’t you worry. I won’t hold it against you, buddy.”

The wolf twitches again, but the engineer simply waits him out, and when he’s still again, he only touches the leg lightly and wraps it as quickly as possible. Four times, and then he takes a moment to sit on the dirty floor and breathe deeply. Looking at the big paws right in front of him, he notices that most of the claws are cracked, and some of them are missing entirely. He frowns and leans forward to take a closer look. Together with the injuries apparently caused by chains and/ or fetters, all of this paints a pretty sad image.

“Tried to free yourself? That how you lost your claws?”, he murmurs as he brushes a hand through the damp fur.

The wolf rumbles again, but doesn’t open its eyes again. It’s enough of an answer, anyway.

“Alright. What’s next, dear?”

_I would direct your attention towards the right hind leg. There is a deeper wound that has damaged the muscle and the nerves and needs to be stitched up._

“Ugh, great. You think there’s any chance I won’t fuck up that up? I mean, if there’s nerve damage, shouldn’t we... On the other hand, let’s forget that. Not like we can call anyone for help.”

He’s on his own this time, but that’s nothing new. He’s often been on his own, and so far, he’s alway come out on top. Sure, there are people he trusts. Pepper and Rhodey and Happy, but this - Ah, he isn’t so sure about this one, yet. Maybe later. When he’s no longer covered in blood.

And so, he gets to work again. JARVIS has ordered some needles and thread (the kind that dissolves and won’t need to be pulled out, but will just be gone in about two or three weeks), and Tony no longer complains. He just wants to get it over with.

Stitching up skin and nerves and muscles is a pain in the ass. Even with his AI’s guidance and calm, slow explanation, the nerve endings are slippery, the muscle won’t connect the way he wants it to, and the skin seems too tight to ever fit together again. More than once he has to fight the urge to just throw the needle to the ground and give up, but that won’t do, either. So he clenches his jaws and grips a little tighter and tries not to hear those awful sounds the tissue makes as he moves it around and tries not to get lost in the bloody mess. It’s not a tidy job, and if this was any of his inventions, he’d rather bite off his tongue before leaving it at that, but there’s nothing he can do right now. After over two hours he pulls the skin together and stitches it all up as well as he can. Bandaging it takes another thirty minutes, because he has to lift the giant leg several times without dropping the bandage, and almost ends up being crushed by the heavy limp in the end. It’s a stressful task, to say the least.

“Okay”, he sighs and brushes a hand over his sweaty forehead, “okay, we’re- We’re just gonna take a moment, here. Just a moment to breathe.”

He ends up taking about five minutes to drink half a bottle of water, washing and desinfecting his hands and switching to a new pair of gloves, then downing the rest of the water and briskily walking back to his patient. The AI is already directing him towards the wolf’s head. He can see the bleeding cut on its neck already, the soaked fur and the layed bare tissue.

“Let me guess: Cleaning, desinfecting and stitching up?”

_Correct, sir. Do you need any more direction?_

“Think I’m good for the moment. Got some practice by now.”

This time, he simply takes two water bottles and splashes it generously over the wound, clearing away most of the blood and then taking a pair of scissors and cutting away enough fur so that he can actually see what he’s dealing with. By now, he no longer gags when he pulls the skin together and threads the needle through. It’s still disgusting, it really is, but Tony is pretty exhausted by now, and he simply doesn’t have the energy to care all that much anymore.

“Alright”, he murmurs barely half an hour later, “cream, then bandage, then we should be good. How’s it looking so far, J?”

_Rather well, sir._

“That’s all I want to hear. You agree, wolfie?”

A low whine and some rumbling when he brushes a hand under its chin and scratches there. After that, it takes him about ten minutes to dress the wound and direct his attention to the next problem - The snout. From the outside, it doesn’t look too bad, but JARVIS is quick to reassure him that in fact it is.

“So, you want me to open its mouth?”

_It’s essential in order to treat the wound. My scans tell me there’s another necrotic infection on the roof of its maw._

The engineer sighs and nods. Sure, there’s no way around it, but it’s a scary thought, to say the least. There’s an instinctual aversion to getting any closer to those long, sharp teeth he knows are waiting in there for him, and he doesn’t like it.

“And, uh, how am I supposed to do that?”

_I would advise to simply use your hand for the first try. If that does not work, you could try using the suit’s gauntlets. I will continue to search for other options as well._

Great, just great. Tony _really _doesn’t like any of this. While the wolf hasn’t threatened him (so far), he doesn’t want to get any closer to a mouth that could easily bite off one of his legs, judging by the size and estimated power behind those jaws. But again, he doesn’t seem to have any choice. Or rather, he does, but he likes the idea of tucking his tail between his legs (and that metaphor makes him huff despite the seriousness of it all) and running away even less.

Kneeling down, he tries a few times until he positions his hands in the best way possible, grabs onto the wolf’s gums and starts to pull. At first, nothing happens, and that’s a real shame. Grunting and cursing under his breath, Tony puts a little more effort into the movement.

“C’mon, buddy. Work with me, c’mon, just open that damn mouth of yours!”, he growls, and--

Holy shit, that actually works! Scrambling back, Tony watches in awe as the huge jaws glide open, revealing countless long, sharp, blood covered teeth, and a smell so bad the engineer feels his eyes water. Gagging, he pulls up the collar of his shirt and wipes his hands against the back of his arm before slowly crawling closer again.

Yeah, there’s blood pouring out, and he can already see the infected, necrotic cut on the roof of its mouth. The smell of decay and sickness is thick and overwhelming, but Tony resists the urge to back away. Leaning back, the fumbles through the boxes until he finds a small flashlight (bless JARVIS, he’s truly amazing) and shines the light inside. It looks even worse that way, and Tony doesn’t dare to think about the reaction he’ll get when he takes the scalpel to that injury.

“That won’t be pretty.”

_Indeed, sir. I suggest finding a way to keep its maw open for a longer period of time. You will need both hands to clean the wound, and the risk of it closing its jaws in the meantime is rather high._

Tony nods along, because the AI is, unsurprisingly, right again. How to do it is a completely different question, though. Looking around his lab, he starts to think. He _does _have a car jack, of course, but that- That seems a little extrem, doesn’t it? Looking back at the jaws and the teeth, Tony decided that no, it actually seems rather appropriate, and it’s the only thing he’s got within reach.

Two minutes later, he’s carefully pushing a car jack in between the strong jaws, then starts to slowly lever it open. The wolf grumbles and twitches, trying to shy away, but there’s barely any strength behind the movement, so Tony doesn’t stop.

“That’s it”, he murmurs, gently petting the back of its snout, “that’s it, you just keep on still and don’t move too much, or else this is gonna get real ugly real quick. Just relax, easy, easy, buddy...”

He’s not sure if his mumbling and petting is doing anything, or if the giant creature is just that exhausted, but at least it stops moving and seems to calm down. The engineer secures the car jack and sits back on his heels. Now comes the hard part. Putting the small flashlight into his mouth, he grabs his trusted scalpel and a bottle filled with water, and leans forward into the maw.

The smell is overwhelming, but Tony does his best to breathe steadily through his mouth and not think too much about it. Resting as much weight as he dares on the lower jaw he begins to work.

It takes him about one and a half hours to get everything cleaned up. Mostly due to the fact that the wolf keeps twitching underneath him, shuddering and whining whenever the scalpel touches the flesh - Which happens almost every second, so it’s a slow process. Since Tony doesn’t want to ram the instrument into the soft tissue, he has to move with extreme caution and can’t put too much pressure into any of his movements. The big tongue keeps trying to come up and lick away the fresh blood, but it’s thankfully pinned down by the car jack - Which only seems to agrivate the wolf more. Tony keeps on hushing and petting as he hurries to cut away the last of the rotten flesh, and then quickly starts pouring water into the wide open maw. The blood gets washed away, and when it still doesn’t look all that good, he grabs needle and thread and does his best to stitch it up. This time, he barely succeeds in getting anything done, because the wolf is now clearly unhappy and starts to struggle.

“Easy, wolfie”, Tony gasps as he gets pushed back and struggles to hold on, “almost done, don’t make this difficult now! C’mon, we’re almost done--”

_Sir, I advise stopping now and settling for applying some desinfectant spray instead. Otherwise you risk agrivating your patient even more._

“Great, we’ll do that”, Tony pants and pushes himself up and away.

Grabbing the mentioned spray, he applies it generously before slowly, ever so slowly pulling the car jack out of its maw. And then allows himself to fall back on his ass. Relief floods his system as he closes his eyes and cards both hands through his hair--

“Okay, okay, bad idea, really bad idea.”

He’ll have to shower for about a day to get rid of everything - The smell, the blood, the puss, everything. But at least the worst is over for now--

_While I do share your enthusiasm, I have to remind that there is still a crushed shoulder and leg you need to take care of._

“... Always there to crush any hopes and dreams, aren’t you, dear?”, Tony mumbles as he blinks his eyes open again, “what do you suggest, then?”

_My scans detect several broken bones and joints. For even the smallest chance of it healing in a way that it will be able to walk again, the bones will need to be aligned and splinted, ideally immobilized._

Before the AI has even finished talking, Tony is already up on his feet and moving towards his patient again. He’s tired, of course, but there’s an end in sight now, and that gives him another burst of energy, more than enough to push through. Tony is an expert when it comes to pushing through, and he knows he can do this. He’s done worse, and he’s still here. That’s got to mean something, right?

“Okay, buddy. We’ve done it before, we can do it again. So, I’m gonna push, and you’re just gonna roll right over onto your other side. Understand? Cool, then let’s go!”

It’s not as easy as he hoped it’d be, but after a few minutes of struggling, the wolf rumbles and then slowly rolls over. There’s no sound of extreme pain, so that’s good, but looking at the now revealed shoulder and leg, Tony feels the hopelessness rise in his mind again. JARVIS talks about at least three seperate breaks, and that’s not even counting the fucked up shoulder.

“Tell me what to do, J”, he sighs after a few moments of contemplation.

As the AI starts explaining, the engineer gets his chair and climbs on top again. Doesn’t look any better from a higher point of view (even worse, actually), and then he gets to working. JARVIS keeps on running scans and x-rays, carefully directing him to moving the leg and shoulder first this way, then that way. It’s precision work, and thankfully Tony is a pro at that, but rearranging bones is different from pushing around the tiny parts of his current project, so he struggles. After about an hour, JARVIS finally deems it as good as it will get, and the next problem arises.

“How do I keep it that way?”

_It is advised to splint injuries such as that. Though I doubt there are any ready made solutions available, you should be able to improvise rather easily._

“You make it all sound so easy, J.”

To everyone’s surprise, the AI turns out to be right. Tony simply takes apart the futon Pepper insisted on installing in one corner of his lab, and uses the foam to pad before grabbing any remaining bandages and slowly wrapping it up. Then, he quickly runs upstairs (once again leaving hideous footprints everywhere and wondering how he’ll ever explain all of this to the cleaning company) and grabs a couple of bed sheets. Under JARVIS’s supervision, he sews them together (and is rather happy to see himself improving at this particular craft already). Then comes the hard part. Wrapping it around the broken leg and securing it there is easy enough, but then he proceeds to pull it up and over the wrecked shoulder and over the wolf’s back. And then he encounters another problem.

“Okay. Okay, there’s no way I’ll get it to roll over again.”

_Agreed, sir. It’s also not a good idea to let it rest on it’s injured shoulder._

“So how do we fixate it, then...”

In the end, he’s too tired to come up with a smarter idea than grabbing his power drill and drilling it into the marble floor. The sheet stays in the position he wants it to be in, tightly securing shoulder and leg, but not too tight so it won’t cut off the circulation. The wolf is lying still, but it does let out a low rumble when Tony runs his hands over its head, scratching behind its ears.

And then he’s done. The realisation hits him like a tone of bricks, and his knees buckle. Sliding to the floor, his back comes to rest against the wolf’s neck as he sinks into the warm, furry body. His head falls back and he takes a few deep breaths as he stares at the ceiling and asks himself what the fuck he’s doing here. His hands find their way into the dirty pelt again, and he can feel his body slowly giving out. He’s reached his limit, and now he’s crashing. There’s no way he can get up and start cleaning right now, even though it’s pretty urgent, he’s just too tired.

“Lights off, J”, he murmurs, and the AI complies.

The engineer lets out a sigh as his hands slip to the ground, and a moment later he’s already asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, because pretty far ahead of my schedule for now, so we should be good (I hope ^^")   
Not much happening here, but there is some background information, and we're mostly done with all that blood and gore (yay!)
> 
> Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

Tony wakes up feeling absolutely disgusting. He hasn’t even opened his eyes yet, and he can already smell blood, decay, puss, sweat, grease and-- Ugh, the list goes on and on, he already has no drive whatsoever to get up and back into the real world. There are just days that suck before they have even begun. Today is such a day.

“JARVIS, why am I awake?”

_There is an incoming call from Miss Potts. I’d find an excuse for your current absence, but she keeps insisting that she wants to speak to you personally. At this point, it seems like accepting her call might be the best course of action._

“Ah, fuck”, Tony groans and opens his eyes.

It’s not a sight that fills him with optimism, exactly. Blood covering the floor, red soaked towels, empty boxes and wrapers, bottles of water, his scalpel and the flashlight, and--

“Oh God, I need to clean that up, ugh, fucking hell, this is disgusting!”, Tony growls as he quickly looks away from the pieces of flesh he cut away, “J, is there any way I can convince the cleaning lady- No, forget that, forget I even asked, this is already too much to deal with right now. Okay, I’m up, I’m more or less awake, let’s get this over with. Put her through!”

_Certainly, sir. Connecting right now._

“Tony? Are you there?”

Hearing Pepper’s voice is strange. It feels like a gentle kick to the gut, painful and loving at the same time. It actually takes his breath away, though he makes sure not to let it show too much.

“Hey, Pep! How’s the island life treating you?”

“Oh, it’s wonderful. I’m sitting on the balcony of my hotel room, sipping a martini and watching the sun set over the ocean. I’ve got nothing to complain about”, she tells him, and he can just picture the small, happy smile on her face.

“That’s good to hear. You definitely deserved that break.”

There are a few things left unspoken in that statement. After their kiss, things were... Good. For a little while, at least. But Tony is still Tony, so things went bad pretty soon. Not apocalyptically bad, but bad enough that Pepper told him they might need a break before things ever got a chance to truly pick up. He agreed, because she was right, and he knew she was right. That didn’t make it hurt any less when she booked her flight to the seychelles and left Malibu with a sad smile and a promise to call soon. That appears to be now. Perfect timing, as always.

“And what about you? I’ve been trying to reach you, but JARVIS told me you were busy.”

“Uh, yeah”, Tony murmurs as he casts a glance over his shoulder at the huge wolf still lying in the middle of his lab, “got kinda... Sidetracked. New project, and all that.”

“Tony...”

“Yeah, I know, I know, but I couldn’t really put it off for even a second--”

“That’s what you always say”, Pepper sighs, and he doesn’t the way this is going down.

He doesn’t want to be the reason she worries, doesn’t want to disappoint her, now even less than before, but it seems he can’t help it. He’s a fuck-up, after all. He simply fucks up, that’s what he does.

“Look, it was urgent. _Really_ urgent”, he emphasises when she’s about to interrupt, “but I’m all done now. And I made sure to drink lots of water, and went to bed right after. And I slept for, what? Eight hours?”

_Almost ten hours, sir._

“There, see! Healthy lifestyle, and all that!”

Lying doesn’t feel great, but it’s better than telling her the truth. Though there’s no way he’d ever tell her about what’s actually happening. Better to keep her happy for the duration of her vacation, and then- Then he’ll just have to see. Part of him hopes that he’ll have found a way out by then. The rest of his brain is genuinely astonished at the amount of optimism he still seems to have left.

“Well, it’s good to hear you’re sleeping”, Pepper now says slowly, and the engineer holds in a sigh of relief, “just... Please make sure to take care of yourself? I don’t want to come back and find you in worse condition than the one I left you in.”

“And you won’t, I promise. The project is coming along pretty well, so I’ll try and take it easy today.”

“That sounds good. And, JARVIS? You let me know if he’s in danger of hurting himself!”

_I will contact you immediatly, Miss Potts._

“Thank you. Tony, I’ll let you get back to work. Call me... Whenever you want to talk.”

“Of course. Enjoy that cocktail, Pep.”

JARVIS ends the call before Tony can say something stupid, like _I miss you_, or _Please_ _come back_, or _Please stay there forever_. He’s not good with words, he never was. No matter how much he talks, he never quite learned how to say what he really means. Especially when it comes to the people he actually cares about. And Pepper... Pepper was always special.

With a sigh, he rubs a hand over his face and turns around. Yeah, there it is. The giant problem that hasn’t magically vanished at some point during his beauty sleep. It’s still there, and it’s still a mess. There’s blood, there’s puss, pieces of flesh, and the supplies he used and never put away.

“This seems like a lot of work”, he mutters to himself as he slowly reaches forward and runs a hand through the coarse fur, “how’s the patient doing?”

_Vitals are stable for now and have been during the time you were asleep. Body temperature has risen by a few degress, though I cannot determine wether it has reached a dangerous level yet. It has not woken up and has barely moved over the last few hours, and appears to be resting for now._

“So, that’s good, right? I mean, at least it’s not worse.

_I agree to a certain extent. There is still a high risk of infection, and only time will tell how well any of these injuries heal. But for now, the prognosis has definitely improved._

“Good, good”, Tony mutters as he cards his hand through the dirty pelt, up and down the wolf’s chin, “that’s good... You’re still alive, huh? That’s a lot better than bleeding out on my floor. That’s a win for us, right?”

There’s no response. No tail wagging, no content rumbling, nothing. But Tony can see and hear the wolf’s breathing, and when he places his hand flat on the wide chest, he can feel a slow, sluggish heartbeat. It’s a weird thing to feel. Alien but at the same time - Calming. Still alive, for now. The engineer can’t help but feel pretty proud of himself. Considering he has no medical training, and with the whole fucked-up situation to begin with, keeping the thing alive is an accomplishment. And a big one at that.

“Yeah, you get some rest. And I’m gonna start cleaning up. You made a pretty spectacular mess in here, after all.”

During the next two hours, Tony has to fight down the urge to just give up and call his cleaning company countless times. There’s just somthing about picking up pieces of rotten flesh and throwing them into a bucket that makes you want to pay horrendous sums of money (even for his standards) to just get your house cleaned, no questions asked. Grimacing when he picks up another blood soaked towel, he once again tells himself in no uncertain terms that there _will _be questions if he lets anyone into his lab right now, and he won’t be able to cover up the following shit storm. He’s on his own, as usual.

“Let’s use our time wisely, J, and get some more information on our patient. Main question: Where the fuck did it come from? Did it teleport into my lab?”

_I don’t know, sir. Nothing was picked up by the scanners until the moment it appeared._

“So, teleportation is definitely an option.”

_It seems that way, sir._

Usually, he’d squeal in delight and jump with joy at that particular piece of information. It’s a mystery he can’t wait to sink his teeth into - Usually. Right now, he’s busy cleaning up blood form his marble floor, and grimacing whenever there’s a stain he can’t get rid of. Teleportation sounds fun when you don’t think about it for too long, but then it becomes kind of a mindfuck. Exactly his type of problem, but there’s just something about this that doesn’t feel right. Not that it’ll stop him, of course. Still, the bad taste in his mouth remains. Or maybe that’s just due to the fact that he hasn’t brushed his teeth in over forty-eight hours.

“Okay, then, onto the next question: Where did it come from? There’s no way actual wolves are this big- Wait, there really isn’t, right?”

_No, sir. The biggest known wolves would be the Mackenzie Valley Wolf, and even those never reach anything even close to this dimension._

“Cool. I’m guessing genetic mutation also isn’t an option, because _someone_ would know about it. Also: Teleportation. Wolves don’t do that. No one does that, as far as we know. And you said something about an energy it’s emitting, right?”

_Yes, sir. I am still unable to diagnose it in any way, or even run accurate scans. It is not something tangiable or comprehensible, at least not for my scanners._

Which is weird, because JARVIS - Well, he is the best there is. Tony knows that, since he’s the one who built him, and he is also the best there is (simple logic right there). Scrubbing viciously at a particularly nasty stain, he furrows his brow and starts wondering. He always does that, but it’s been a while since a problem tickled his brain just the right way. This one surely does.

“So, we basically know shit about it”, he finally sighs and sits back on his heels, “not where it came form, not what exactly it is, nothing. Which is great! Just fucking great.”

At least the lab is looking a little cleaner now. The floor is still a little messy, but most of the blood (and other bodily parts and fluids) is now gone, and the smell has also lessened. Reaching into one of the boxes, Tony finds a can of air freshener, and just starts to spray. The can says _Ocean Breeze_. Tony has spent a lot of time near the ocean, and he can testify that it doesn’t smell like this garbage at all. But it’s better than the scent of blood and sickness, so he’ll take it for now.

“And there’s no one we can really ask, considering there are no known experts on strange, giant wolves that seemingly _teleport _into your home. Unless you wanna correct me on that, dear?”

_I’m afraid you are right, sir. There are quite a few experts on the subjects of wolves in general, though, if you’d like me to contact one of them?_

“Nah, we’ll wait. Just keep their numbers, I might come back to that later. For now, we’ll stick to the easier questions”, turning back to the wolf he cocks his head and crosses his arms, “are we talking boy or girl?”

_It appears to be a male wolf, sir._

“Cool. That’s- That’s cool.”

And it actually is, because now Tony no longer has to it and _it_\- It’s a _he_ now, and that somehow changes stuff. Tony likes knowing what he’s dealing with no matter what part of his life, and right now he’ll have to settle for the simpler facts. So, now he knows it’s a boy. A male. He can work with that.

“Alright, J, I’m gonna take a quick break. I need a shower, like, a long, hot, extensive shower. Be a dear and order something to eat, pizza or whatever, and then I want you to find me some information on wolves. And don’t be too critical - Get me anything you find, anything that might help, no matter how trivial. We’re gonna start from the basics and work our way up, see where that takes us. And keep running those scans, maybe you’ll catch something. We understand each other?”

_Certainly, sir. And I’ll make sure to alert you should anything change concerning your patients condition._

“Awesome. Then I’ll see you in half an hour.”

Taking a shower feels great, absolutely amazing. Most importantly, though, it feels _normal_. Tony has always been anything but normal, and he’s well aware of that. Usually, he relishes in it, because who’d ever want to be normal? It’s a good thing to stick out in a crowd, especially when it’s because of your intellect and talent. So yeah, normal is no something he craves.

Today is different. Today, he lets out a sigh of relief when the warm water hits his aching muscles, and he closes his eyes, taking his time. Today, he is glad to have a few moments to breathe and just- Not have to think about whatever the fuck is happening down in his lab. He’s normal right now, just taking a shower. Well, a shower in order to get rid of the blood, sweat and grease covering his skin, but he can’t see any of that with closed eyes, and it’s easy to pretend for just a few minutes. Grabbing the body wash, he lathers up his body and breathes in the familiar scent. It feels good to get rid of all that dirt, and he can feel his clogged airways opening up again. Yeah, this was long overdue. He turns the heat up even more and breahtes in and out, feeling goosebumps rising on his skin. Slowly, with each passing second, the stress and tension melt away and leave him feeling just a little shaky. His body is anything but ready for action, no matter how used he is to strenuous work and sleepless nights. It’s the stress and fear that really grind him down to nothing but bone, and the smell of blood that reminds him of some of the worst times in his entire life. And those chain marks... Yeah, he knows what it feels like to be tied down, and that might just be why he - Cared. To a certain extent, at least.

Before he can think further along that dangerous path, he grabs a bottle of shampoo and squeezes some of it into his hand. The scent hits him like a sledgehammer. Tony doesn’t own rose-scented shampoo. Pepper does. Pepper, who’s far away, because she couldn’t stay close to him for longer than a few weeks before she needed a break. Well, they both needed one, if he’s completely honest, but she was the one who brought it up, and she was the one who booked the flight and told him to wait for her call. And that hurt. So much that he had to clench his jaws in order to not say some things he’d never be able to take back.

Now, he rubs the damn rose-scented shampoo into his greasy hair and tells himself that she’ll be back. About two more weeks, then she’ll be back, and they- Oh God, they’ll have to talk, won’t they? With a groan, he leans forward and rinses the foam out. Whatever, so he’s gonna smell like roses for a few hours. Not like anyone will notice, because there’s only JARVIS, who doesn’t have a nose (and is usually too polite to comment on his body smell, anyway), and a giant fucking wolf he’s trying to nurse back to health, and how the fuck is this his life? Just a few hours ago, he thought being Iron Man was the craziest thing that’s ever happened to him. Life sure has a way to keep on surprising him. Which is just great, just fucking great. Turning of the water and stepping out of the shower, he grabs a pre-heated towel and dries himself off. Then, he puts on comfy sweatpants and his MIT-hoodie, before walking out of the bathroom.

“... How do you get blood out of- This kind of carpet? And don’t tell me if it’s difficult, because then I just won’t bother.”

When he’s met with nothing but silence, the engineer sighs and drops his head. Without having to hurry back and forth, he can’t overlook the bloody footprints he’s left on his way to and from the lab, to the front door, and now the bathroom. His ruined clothes have been dumped in a garbage bag (nothing salvageable there), and he wonders if he can do the same with the carpet.

“Awesome. That’s something for Future Tony to worry about, then. Update me.”

_With pleasure, sir. Your pizza will arrive in about five minutes, I’ve taken the liberty of ordering your favorite kind. Your patient has not woken up yet, and has barely moved at all. Vitals are more or less stable, there is no immediate cause for concern._

“Uh, wow. That almost sounds like good news.”

_It does. My scans are still inconclusive so far, but I will keep on trying. I have also collected an extensive amount of information on wolves._

“Great, I’ll just grab my food and head back down, then we can get started.”

Tony does just that. The kid that delivers his pizza today is stunned into silence when he opens the door himself, so he just grins and tips him two hundred dollars, because why the hell not? Opening the box and stuffing a whole slice into his mouth, he curses when it burns the roof of his mouth and swallows it down hurriedly. His empty stomach doesn’t really agree with his hurried intake of greasy food, but he doesn’t listen, because he’s short on time, as usual.

“Be a dear and figure out a way to get someone else to clean all of that”, he adds with a vague gesture towards the ruined carpet as he makes his way towards the stairs that lead down to the lab, “find me a shady cleaning company if you have to, the kind that works for the mafia, or whatever else is available. As long as I don’t have to do it myself.”

_I will start researching right away._

“I sure hope so”, Tony replies as he pushes the lab door open and steps inside, “and I hear you’re doing better, wolfie! Good to hear that.”

The wolf doesn’t react to his voice, but the engineer doesn’t mind. As long as the vitals are stable, he figures rest is probably the best thing for his patient right now. Reaching over and gently petting the wolf’s flank, he feels a shudder run through the huge frame, which he takes as a good sign. It’s also nice to just run his hand through the warm fur, even though it’s still pretty dirty, with all the blood and grease that’s clinging to it. He might have to find a way to clean it, with the risk of infection and all that jazz. To be honest, though, he has no idea how to do that, either, and he has very little drive to figure it out for now.

Nodding to himself, he sits down on the ground next to the wolf’s head and starts munching on his pizza again. It’s a peaceful silence, safe for his chewing and the slow, even breathing of his patient. It’s alright for now, even though he can already feel the questions in his head rise again. There’s a lot still left to figure out - Everything, actually, but he doesn’t mind. He’s a man of science. He was born to find answers and solutions. When the pizza is gone, he downs a bottle of water, and stretches until his joints pop. With a sigh, he gets up and walks through the room to grab a tablet from his workstation. Swiping away the blueprints he was working on the day before, he settles in his favorite chair, facing the wolf

“Alright, JARVIS, I’m ready. Hit me with that extensive research of yours.”

_Of course, sir. Is there anything you would like to start with?_

“Nah, no preferences. Surprise me, won’t you?”

Tony regrets that statement after just ten minutes. Turns out, there’s a lot to know about wolves, and JARVIS was extra thourough with his research, because of course he was. The engineer can only sit and stare at the endless list of information that scrolls across the screen and think that maybe, just _maybe_, he’s in over his head. Which is a thought that lasts about two seconds, before the science part of his brain kicks into gear, and he dives headfirst into it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo, I'm back already! Writing this has been super fun so far, and I'm way ahead of my schedule - So I thought, why not post again? ^^ Things are probably gonna get pretty stressful for me soon enough, so I'm gonna try and write as much as possible for now! Wish me luck!
> 
> Also... I kinda think it's time for Tony to pick a name for his newest project, don't you think? ;)
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy! And thanks to all the people who have left kudos and comments, it honestly means a lot!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

“We’re gonna take a break here, J. Which topics are left?”

_I have some more information on the wolf’s role in folklore and mythology all over the world, depictions in books, movies and tv shows, and a summary of preservance and activism linked to--_

“Yeah, alright, definitely need a break right about now”, Tony groans as he sets his tablet down for the first time in five hours, stretching until his entire spine pops.

He back and neck are cramped, his eyes are burning and his throat is dry as the dessert he stumbled through not too long ago. He feels like shit, but at least now he knows a shit ton about wolves. Origin, different kinds across the globe, behavior, body language, hunting tactics, familial bonds and mating cycles, their senses and life phases. It’s a lot, and Tony’s brain is kind of done with it all for now. Also, mythology and folklore sounds exceedingly boring, so he’s not too eager to get started. The engineer can’t think of a single time a fairy tale has solved any of his problems, so why would it happen now? Considering that JARVIS _still _has more information that’s now being saved to a new folder on his servers, there’ll be more than enough material for later times. Leaning forward and grabbing a new bottle of water, he cracks it open and downs most of it in one go. He feels better, but only a little.

“Update on the patient, J. What’s wolfie been up to?”

_No big changes in its condition in the meantime, sir. Its temperature has risen slightly again, and I’m still running scans every five minutes, yet nothing new has come up so far. Would you like me to look for something specific?_

“Yeah, but I don’t even know _what _we’re looking for, so it’s kind of a moot point right now. We’ll just... Wait and see, I guess.”

It’s a position Tony doesn’t like _at all_. He is a guy that always needs to do something, try something, blow something up! Sitting around and just waiting for some answers to present themselves - It sucks. Because it makes him feels useless, and that’s a feeling he consciously left behind many, many years ago. Tony is not a person that does well with being in limbo, in silence and stillness. It’s way he’s always talking, always moving, always thinking.

And now, he’s done sitting around and staring at nothing, so he lifts his head and takes a good look at his patient (and current problem). No change, at least none that he can see. The wolf is still lying on his side, breathing slowly and deeply by now, and there hasn’t been so much as a twitch in the last few hours. Which is good, as long as it- No, _he _is still alive. Resting, it seems. Still alive, and resting.

Slowly, Tony gets up and walks towards the wolf again. Okay, so the thing is alive, and not a threat for now. He’s well aware of the fact that it might just be due to the fact that he’s too exhausted and injured to even try and threaten him, so that’s something he’ll have to stay careful about (haha, that was a good one!). Still, he doesn’t feel worried in any way when he reaches out again and runs a hand through the white-grey fur, up over the wolf’s chest, over the throat and the chin, where he scratches for a few moments. No sounds, and he finds he almost misses them.

“You really tired, huh? Yeah, you- Hey, you got a name, buddy? I never thought to ask.”

Of course, no answer, but Tony is already thinking again. Having a name is something important, after all, and names are kind of important to him as well. Also, calling him just “the wolf” for the foreseeable future sounds kinda boring and bleak. So, he’ll just have to find a solution.

“JARVIS, you got any idea what to call a giant wolf?”

_I’m afraid not, sir. Would you like for me to search the internet for some suggestions?_

“Yeah, you do that. Search for wolf names, or whatever. I wanna get inspired!”

The AI complies, and starts listing name after name after name. Apparently, people have collected about ten thousand different names for potential wolves (and the engineer wonders how many wolves actually need to be named on a day to day basis). But most importantly: The majority of those names suck. They sound like someone took them out a bad fantasy novel, or worse. Tony blanches at some of them (Dixon? Klondike? Sebastian? Seriously?) and quickly waves the AI off when it offers to start on the next list.

“Nah, I think we’re good. Those suck, anyway. I mean, how’d you ever- Ah, whatever, I’m gonna think of something myself.”

Tony never thought much about wolves to begin with. About five hours ago, he had no clue about anything related to those animals, and up until two days ago, he didn’t really care, either. So here he is, trying to think up a good name, because fuck, he wants to call it something else but “the wolf”! Cocking his head, he takes a good look at him again and thinks. The only wolf names he knew beforehand are things like “Whitefang” and “Two Socks”, which a) are both a mouth full and b) he’s pretty sure at least one of those didn’t meet a happy ending. So neither of them will do.

_If I may suggest, sir, there are a lot of different wolves featured in mythology from all around the world, if you’re looking for--_

“Ah, but that’d be boring, wouldn’t it? I think we should come up with something by ourselves.”

_As you wish, sir._

Thing is, Tony doesn’t really have an idea when it comes to this one. Humming lowly to himself, he keeps on scratching the warm fur, until a small rumble passes through the huge body. It makes him smile a little bit as he drags his hands over the (now hopefully healing) snout and up between those closed eyes, all the while thinking about a name. After a few minutes, though, he has to admit that so far, he’s got nothing.

“Yeah, okay, this might be a little bit harder than expected. We’ll have to postpone”, he adds as he pats the wolf’s forehead a few times and straightens back up again, “break’s over, everyone! JARVIS, I want to see all the scans you’ve done so far. Doesn’t matter if they’re inconclusive, just show me what you got. It’s time we get a few answers, don’t you think?”

With that, he turns and walks back towards his work station. It’s true, he’s been resting for way too long. Patching the wolf up was necessary, but there’s no real reason to wait any longer when it comes to the science part of all of this. So, he picks up his tablet once again and starts reviewing some of that data his AI gathered over the last twenty-four hours. That should keep him busy fo a while.

The scans are inconclusive, to say the least. Tony has seen quite a lot of weird things in his life so far, including several different fields of science, but this is new even to him. None of the numbers add up, even with JARVIS’s highly advanced scanners. Other than with the arc reactor, or any other form of energy, it seems the AI was unable to even get a clear reading on the energy apparently being emitted by the wolf. Like it’s something that slipped through his metaphorical fingers and left him with no additional information.

The engineer frowns when he watches some of the data being presented in graphs - There’s some fluctuation, which is not that weird. What’s weird are the time stamps added to each spike, because nothing else in the lab - the reactors he’s been working on, the general power running his lab, the robots, nothing - reacted in the same time or rhythm.

“J, be a dear and play those graphs from start to finish. Point out each spike as they happen, and put up the video feed as well”, he murmurs as he focuses his attention on the first spike.

_Right away, sir. The first spike occurred the very moment it appeared inside the lab, and decreased a about one minute afterwards._

“Okay. Next one?”

Promptly, he’s provided with a video feed showing himself moving cautiously through the lab. When he’s about ten feet away from the wolf’s body, the curve hits the second spike. The engineer watches on as the readings stay rather high as he touches the wolf for the first time. Then, they slowly decrease as he moves away again, and stay relatively low as he grabs a drink. He watches himself walk back, observe and poke, and snorts when he jumps at the wolf wagging its tail. That’s when there’s another spike as well. When the wolf smelled him, the energy levels hit an all-time high, and then they dropped as it seemingly passed out again. After that, there are a few small rises (again, whenever Tony moves closer or pets his fur), but nothing significant anymore - Until the whole cauterization thing. That’s when the readings pretty much blew up, and stayed high for well over two minutes after Tony hit the ground (he cringes at that, because fuck, that looks extra painful from here).

Reviewing the whole data set a couple of time, it doesn’t take him long to work out a pattern. There are certain things that seem to trigger whatever kind of energy is working in there, touch and pain being the most obvious ones. Which is extremely weird, because there’s something almost intentional, almost deliberate about it all, and he has never seen anything like that. Sure, in a way, every living thing responds to pain and touch, but it’s different here. There’s not just a physical reaction, but an energetic one as well, and those two seem to be related, but not one hundred percent dependent. There was little physical reaction when he first touched the giant animal, but the the spikes in the energy levels were pretty damn impressive, even with the wolf seemingly unconscious. So there’s something missing from the picture. Something he doesn’t quite get just yet. Another problem, a whole mystery.

Tony can’t help but grin. This is gonna be awesome!

The next two hours are spent testing. It’s a pretty simple process: Touch the wolf, see the reaction. Usually, Tony would scoff at stuff like that, but sometimes science can be pretty basic, and since he doesn’t have much else to go on, he’ll have to settle for poking his subject until he has an idea of where to go next.

So, he first starts to gently poke. Interestingly enough, there’s a stronger reaction when he first steps closer, but it tapers off after the few touches. He does that a few times, but after a while the reaction stays rather low, even if the all over level is slightly elevated whenever he is close. But now it’s habituated, simple as that. That’s when he takes the next step: Petting the wolf. That gets him a different reaction as well - Slightly raised energy levels all throughout the time he spends carding one or two hands through the warm fur, scratching the skin underneath. When he steps back, the levels stay slightly raised for a couple of seconds, then die down when there’s no more contact. Stepping closer, levels rise. Petting, they stay elevated.

“Okay. So, contact. That’s what gets your energy up. Alright, alright, then let’s see...”, he murmurs and furrows his brow as he prepares to test his second theory.

Pain. It’s not something he’s keen on verifying, but there’s currently no way around. And so, he grabs onto one of the bandaged paws and squeezes as hard as he dares. There’s a reaction - A long, low whine, and then the paw is ripped from his grip as the big creature shies away, and another spike in the readings. It’s a different pattern than the ones he got from the whole contact thing, which is not a surprise, but at least it’s done for now.

“Sorry for that, buddy”, Tony murmurs as he pets the trembling flank apologetically, “don’t worry, we don’t need to do that again. JARVIS got it all, right?”

_Of course, sir._

“See, we’re done with that. You just go back to sleep, and leave the science stuff to me. JARVIS, I want you to draw some comparisons between those energy spikes and physical and mental activity. And I mean the whole deal: Muscle tone, heart rate, brain waves, all that jazz! I wanna know what kind of correlation there is, and I want know it yesterday!”

The results turn out to be even more fascinating - And frustrating, in equal measures. Because there is no correlation. Or there is at times, but it’s not consistent, which it should be! They sync pretty well at the beginning, but after the wolf passes out, they start to disperse. Mental activity, heart and breathing rate drop down, yet the energy levels keep on rising and falling in no visible dependance. Frowning, Tony starts to once again compare the data with what he sees on the video feed. Okay, so it’s not tied to it’s awareness/ consciousness. Which means the one thing influencing it is the input provided by the environment, often without (or with very little) interference from the wolf’s mind. Tony is no expert on the human body (let alone the body of any other living thing), but he knows that there’s a lot more connectivity when it comes to a response for certain impulses - Be that pain or touch, or whatever else. It’s almost as if the energy source is detached from the owner of the body it’s residing in, or at least a lot more self-sufficient than he previously thought. It reacts whenever someone comes closer, it reacts to touch and pain (and possibly other sensations, but he isn’t quite ready to test that yet) and does not require any higher brain function or even awareness from the body and therefore the brain.

“What is that thing?”, he murmurs as he leans back and glances over to the wolf, “what are you hiding in there, huh, buddy?”

Those scans didn’t pick up any mechanical parts, or anything else but the wolf’s body, really, so there’s nothing implanted. It seems to be a natural part of his body. Unbelievable. The engineer brushes a hand through his hair and tries to understand. This will take longer than he originally thought. Going through the data again, analyzing the brain waves (and before that reading up on brain waves in general), maybe putting a time line for all of those factors that will need to be updated constantly... Yeah, it’s gonna take a while.

“Music, J”, he finally mutters as he shakes his head and gets ready to work through it again.

_Of course, sir. Any specific requests?_

“Surprise me, will you?”

The music starts the next moment, and Tony hesitates for a second. It’s been a while since he last listened to that song, but of course he still recognizes it the moment it starts playing. Leaning back in his chair, he crosses his arms and just listens for a while, silently watching the wolf’s calm and even breathing. And then he makes a decision.

“You know what? I think we just found your new name.”

A grin spreads over his face as the guitar picks up and he nods to himself. Yeah, that one fits. And he’s sure it’s the right one to choose. As often before, Ozzy has helped him in a time of need.

“Welcome to the family, Sato. I’m sure you’ll fit in just fine.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaaay another chapter already :D Sorry, I couldn't help myself! But no worries, I've got the next four chapters ready, only need a little bit of editing, so it won't take long for the next one to be uploaded ^^
> 
> It's still a lot of fun to write, and I'm hoping to finish this story before November... Fingers crossed!
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy, and if you do - Yay! That makes me happy :D Let me know what you think, feedback is greatly appreciated!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

_Sir, it has been about eight hours since you last ate. I have taken the liberty of ordering from your favorite Italian restaurant again, and the delivery should arrive in about ten minutes._

“You’re a nightmare, J”, Tony mutters, but doesn’t protest.

He’ll have to eat eventually. Might as well get it out of the way now. The last few hours haven’t really brought him any new answers, only a slightly better understanding of the readings and graphs JARVIS provided him with. Self-suffiecent energy source inside of the- Of _Sato_. Responds to stimuli of different kinds, doesn’t rely on awareness and/ or body activity. Weird, and still not really explained. But he’s working on it, and that’s all he can do for now. Getting up again, he cringes as his whole body protests. Is he really getting too old for any of this already? That’s a scary thought, so he quickly shakes it off and stretches.

“Wolfie-Update, JARVIS”, he sighs as he closes his eyes and breathes deeply.

Then, he starts to walk through the lab and stretches out a hand to pat the wolf’s soft fur, carding his fingers through the (still pretty dirty) pelt as the AI starts to fill him in

_Its vitals are still stable, although the heartrate has risen over the last hour. I have also detected higher brain activity again, indicating that it might be slowly waking up in the near future._

“Sounds like you’re on the mend again, huh? That’s good to hear, Sato. That’s really good.”

Though he’s honestly not so sure about the whole thing. If the wolf wakes up in the next few hours, that’ll only mean more problems. A resting, sleeping wolf is one thing - An awake and possibly struggling one is something else entirely. Looking around and trying to estimate the dimensions Sato will fill once he stands up on all fours (or all threes, for now), the engineer feels his stomach dropping. Nope, that hopefully won’t happen! Or else he might have to say a final goodbye to his beloved lab.

_Your food has arrived, sir._

“Cool. Keep an eye on my patient, be right back!”

This time the delivery guy turns out to be a sleep deprived student, who barely raises an eyebrow when he catches sight of Tony, who’s rocking the whole “I haven’t slept or showered or brushed my teeth in the last 24 hours” look, and so he doesn’t tip as well as he usually would, because he doesn’t feel all that appreciated, and that’s a no-go. Grumbling lowly under his breath, he slams the door shut and pads back towards the lab, already opening the pizza carton as he walks down the stairs. Then, he pushes open the door and walks over to Sato without hesitation, sitting down on the floor close to his snout. The smell of hot pizza makes his stomach growl, so he hurriedly takes out a slice and stuffs it into his mouth. Groaning at the wonderful taste, he leans back on one hand and chews happily. Until he opens his eyes. And sees the wolf watching him.

_Sir, it appears the wolf has woken up._

“You don’t say”, the engineer mutters as he slowly sits up and swallows, “keep the suit ready. We’ll see how it goes for now.”

Sato doesn’t make any move to bite off his head, which is good. Not getting killed is always a good sign. Slowly, ever so slowly he rolls up onto his knees and straightens up. Okay, this is it. Now he’ll see if this is something he can handle. First things first: Stay calm. Which is easier said than done when his heart is already thundering in his chest. Whatever, he’ll have to make due.

“Hey, there”, he finally says lowly as he takes a deep breath and forces a smile onto his face, “you doing okay? Feeling a little better?”

The wolf blinks at that, and starts sniffing in his direction. When he struggles to move into the engineer’s direction, Tony quickly leans forward and gently presses the back of his hand against the wet, black nose that’s greedily inhaling the air. A few moments later, Sato stops moving and huffs a few times before calming down again and letting out a deep sigh, apparently satisfied.

“Yeah, I know. You gotta smell me, so you know what’s going on. I get that now. We getting any spikes so far, J?”

_One when it woke up, another when it started smelling you, and the energy levels are still elevated, but constant for now._

“So, touch is still a thing. You still like that, hm?”, he asks with a smile as he reaches over and starts scratching the big furry cheek.

** _Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump._ **

There’s that tail wagging again. Another good sign, because this - This means he’s happy. This means he likes getting petted and enjoys the contact. Tony has watched about two and a half hours of documentaries on wolves, and he’s seen what it looks like when they’re happy, he knows the signs now. Or at least he has a very basic idea of what could be considered _good_.

** _Thump thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump._ **

“Scans, J?”

_Energy levels are still elevated, but there have not been any more spikes so far._

“No surprise there. You’re awake now, so you’ll have more energy, one way or another...”, the engineer mutters as he leans back and cocks his head.

Sato’s golden eyes follow him and stay on his as he slowly drags a hand through his own hair and wonders what he’ll do now. The wolf is awake, he’s aware and seems curious, but not in any way aggressive. Ears are up straight and twitching ever so slightly, nose sniffing around, eyes trained on Tony, but there’s no sign of aggression or even intense fear. He’s just taking in his environment, making sure there are not immediate threats, and seems to come up satisfied and reassured. All good signs so far.

They watch each other for a few moments, and then Tony’s stomach growls again. Since there’s really nothing else to do for now (and he’s still pretty hungry) he grabs another slice of pizza and takes a big bite. That gets him another reaction - Slightly widening eyes and a deliberate sniff into his direction. Or rather, into the direction of the pizza. The engineer stops chewing and raises his eyebrows. As a test, he starts moving the slice around a little bit, from side to side, then up and down. Sato’s golden eyes stay glued to it wherever he moves it, and that answers the question.

“So you’re hungry. No surprise there, either. JARVIS, if I feed him the pizza, what are the chances of poisoning him?”

_Considering its size, I doubt a single piece of pizza will do any harm to it. Though I also doubt it will be in any way enough to feed it, either._

“Sure, sure, but we’ve gotta start with something. And pizza’s always a good start, right? You want some pizza, Sato?”

The wolf whines lowly and starts scratching at the marble floor with his free paw, eagerly stretching his neck towards him. Okay, that’s as good of an answer as he’s gonna get. Tony shuffles forward a little bit until his knees touch against Sato’s chin, and then he holds out the slice of pizza. Only when the wolf opens his wide maw and those impressive teeth come closer and closer to touching his hand does it occur to Tony that maybe he didn’t think this one through all that well. He’s just about to yelp and pull back when the front teeth sink into the slice and slowly, carefully pull it from his grip. Tony watches in a dazed kind of way as the big wolf chomps down on the crust and cheese and tomato, swallowing it down after a single bite. Then, he licks his lips and looks at Tony expectantly.

“Uh... Cool. So, you like pizza, too. Which is great. You want some more?”

** _Thump thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump._ **

Tony chuckles as he grabs the next slice and waits for the wolf to take it. This time, he carefully watches the long, sharp teeth, because he sure as fuck doesn’t want to lose a finger. But even though they come close to his hand, they don’t touch his skin even once. Sato is careful, and the piece of food is gone barely two seconds later. And again, those golden eyes turn towards him with an almost pleading look.

“JARVIS? How... How many pizza do you think it’d take to feed him? Just a rough estimate.”

_Considering size, weight and current condition, I’d estimate about 50 to 75 pizzas, easily. Though I strongly advise against actually feeding it this amount. It would definitely harm his already worrying condition._

“Yeah, I thought so. Do me a favor and order five more pizzas, anyway. And then- Get me some meat. Raw and fresh, closest thing to what a wolf would eat in its natural habitat. Doesn’t matter what it costs, just make sure it’s high quality and nobody asks any questions.”

_Of course, sir. It might take a while to place and receive--_

“That’s what those pizzas are for, dear! Just need to make sure Sato here has no motivation to chew on my leg, that’s all.”

With that, he grabs another slice and feeds it to the wolf. Sato seems happy enough to munch on his food, wagging his tail and squinting his eyes happily, all the while rumbling and grumbling as his snout nudges Tony’s knee when he takes too long to grab the next piece. Judging by the protruding ribs, spine, hip bones, and the way his fur is hanging off his frame, it must’ve been a while since he last fed. It’ll take quite a while to get some meat back onto those bones, too, and Tony wonders why he’s even thinking about that when he has no idea what will happen after that pizza is gone. Still, no harm in letting JARVIS order that meat, because who knows? Maybe it’ll do Sato some good.

“Sorry, buddy. That’s all there is for now”, he says with a shrug and shows the wolf his empty hands.

The animal sniffs his hands greedily and nudges them a couple of times, even leaning over to lick at the empty carton. The engineer chuckles and scratches between his fluffy ears when he drops his head and sighs dejectedly.

“I know it sucks. But don’t worry, JARVIS has already ordered more, and it’s well on its way. Glad to know you liked it, though. Seems like you’re a wolf with taste!”

Sato keeps looking at him with huge, sad eyes, and Tony can’t help but smile. It’s... Cute. Which is a word he never would’ve used before, mostly because in his head, it’s reserved for things he never had in his life. But animals can be cute. He’s seen a few dogs he’d call cute as well. And this is wolf, so- Yeah, whatever, it’s kinda cute. Nobody needs to know.

“Hey, how do you like that new name of yours, huh? Gotta admit, I’m a little proud of it. And I think it suits you rather well. Please tell me it doesn’t suck?”

Sato woofs lowly, and JARVIS records another spike in the still elevated energy levels. Another one when the wolfs keeps wiggling closer until Tony reaches over and pats the back of his snout, scratching between his eyes until he rumbles lowly and happily again. Right now, physical, mental and energetic activity all line up, or at least their patterns seem to logically align.

“Okay, so we can all agree that I found an awesome name for you. And we found out your new favorite meal! That calls for celebration; JARVIS, how are those orders coming along?”

Sato ends up devouring four more pizzas. Tony sneaks a slice whenever the wolf is busy chewing on his own, and after a good hour, all of the pizzas are gone. The wolf is now resting his huge, heavy head in Tony’s lap and wagging his tail as he enjoys a few more head scratches. It’s a little difficult keeping the animal still, considering his shoulder and leg are still immobilized, but he manages. Seems like petting is an easy way to keep the wolf happy and calm.

“How’re those injuries looking, J?”, Tony murmurs lowly as the golden eyes start slipping shut and Sato’s breathing evens out again.

_So far there’s no sign of infection. Temperature and other vital signs are stable and have been for the last few hours. The broken shoulder and leg are still aligned the same way you arranged them, and if they stay that way, there’s a good chance of the bones connecting in the right way in due time._

Tony nods along and wonders what he’s supposed to do. Sato is healing, which is good. Better than good when he thinks back to that first prognosis JARVIS gave him. Those three to four hours have long passed, and the wolf is still here, in a much better condition than he arrived in. So, good news for now. But what about the long run? Admittedly, that’s not something Tony usually thinks about all that much (or at all, if he’s being really honest), but where is he gonna go from here? At some point, those injuries are gonna be healed - And then what? What do you do with a giant wolf you’re currently taking care of once he no longer needs your help? Where- Where is he gonna put him, then? Tony sighs and shakes his head.

He can worry about that later. For now, he’s gonna make sure that those breaks heal, keep those wounds clean and try to fatten up his wolf a little bit. And then he’ll see. By then, Pepper will probably be back, and then... Then there’ll be a whole other shit show waiting to happen. And he will worry about that when it comes. Another problem for Future Tony. He kind of pities that poor guy.

_Sir, your delivery has arrived._

“Huh?”

Tony blinks his eyes open and groans. Once again he managed to fall asleep in the most awkward position possible, only to awaken with a stiff neck and aching back. Great, just great.

“Tell them to set it down on the door mat, I’m on my way.”

Sato is asleep again, so he doesn’t hesitate to get up and make his way towards the front door. His body is still complaining, and he grudgingly admits to himself that its high time for a good night’s sleep. As much as he usually enjoys staying up well into the night, and the next day, and the day afterwards - He’s hitting his limits, and this time he can’t really ignore all those warning signs. It’s not about one of his projects he can theoretically turn off at any given moment (doesn’t matter that he hardly ever chooses to actually do so), but a giant wolf currently residing in his lab. That’s not something he’d be able to deal with on the best of days, let alone with a sleep deprived brain. But, all in due time. For now, he’s got some fresh meat to feed his patient. Then he can think about getting into bed.

Unpacking about one hundred pounds of frozen meat is yet another weird experience he never thought he’d have. Since JARVIS is a saint and sent from heaven, he also ordered an industrial freezer, which he carries down the stairs cursing whoever invented that fucking heavy thing and wondering what he’ll do if he breaks his back and JARVIS will have to call for help. Turns out he doesn’t find out, because he makes it downstairs without too much stumbling, and then he only needs to plug the thing in, and done! He quickly loads it with the bags filled with frozen meat and then closes the lid. The whole thing looks a little... Concerning. It’s the kind of thing serial killers have in their basements. Better not think about it too much.

“So, what exactly do we have here?”

_I have ordered a variety of high quality meat. Since it would’ve taken a lot longer to order things like deer, elk and other animals wolves naturally hunt, I have settled for beef, pork and mutton in the meantime. I have also refrained from ordering whole animals, even though it would come closer to simulating a wolf’s natural diet._

“Well, I’m really fucking glad you didn’t order a whole cow, that’s for sure”, Tony mutters as he grabs two of the frozen bags and slaps them onto a rarely used table, “so, I’m gonna let them defrost, and then we’ll see if he likes those as well as the pizza. Anything else on the agenda?”

_I would advise changing some of the bandages and reapplying the antibiotic cream in order to prevent infection and speed up the healing process._

“You heard the AI, buddy. Time to change those bandages of yours!”

Sato wakes up the moment he grabs onto one of his injured paws, and Tony immediately knows that this is gonna be a huge struggle. The wolf seems tired, but all too aware of what’s about to happen, so that’s just fucking great. On a whim, Tony decides to try taking one of his less traveled roads and use reason - No matter that it’s probably useless explaining all of this to a fucking wolf, but who knows? Maybe it’ll do them some good. And he’s kind of lacking other options, anyway.

“Okay. Listen up. I know this sucks, it sucks majorly. But there’s no way around it. You wanna get well again, right? You want it all to heal up nicely, so that you can run around again - Which is not gonna happen in here, or anywhere inside of my house, just to be clear, but I mean, you wanna get better, don’t you? So, you’ll have to trust me on this. It’s probably gonna hurt, but I promise I’ll hurry and be careful, and then I’ll leave you alone again. Deal?”

He waits for a couple of seconds, and Sato uses that time to watch him warily. There’s no real reason to believe that the wolf has any clue what he just said (or the ability to comprehend what’s even happening at all), but for a moment the engineer is sure to see the thoughts crossing through the big animals head. And then, just like that, Sato huffs a breath and drops his big, heavy paw back into Tony’s lap. Huh. Would you look at that! Slightly confused (and a little overwhelmed) he starts to scratch behind his fluffy ears and wonders if he’s actually a wolf whisperer.

“Uhm, awesome! Okay, so I’m gonna go ahead and take care of those injuries, and then we’ll have lunch. Or, you’ll have lunch, and I’ll try not to throw up. It’ll be a party!”

Before the wolf can rethink his decision, he takes hold of the right front paw and starts to unwrap the bandages. Some of the layers are wet, and there’s some blood soaking through, but it’s better than expected. Sure, the edges he cut clean of necrosis still look red and raw, but there’s no puss or other signs of infection, so that’s a pretty good. Tony can’t help but actually grin as grabs a pair of surgical gloves and carefully cleans away the remaining cream and gently pads the bare skin dry. Sato holds still, though he does whine and tremble every other moment, pressing his snout against the engineer’s knee.

“Yeah, I know, I know, it sucks. Things like that always do”, the man mutters as he leans towards one of the open boxes and fumbles for a new role of bandages and antibiotic cream, “and I hate shit like this, too. All the more reason to be a good wolfie and hold really still, and not bite my head off by accident.”

They’re already running low on bandages (JARVIS informs him that he has just ordered some more), and Tony tries not to think about how all of this will look. No matter that the AI keeps all of this as anonymous and inconspicuous as possible, it’s still a lot of weird things to order in a matter of a few days. Here’s to hoping no one starts asking questions.

After spreading cream over the bare skin, he wraps the leg up once again, petting the whining wolf on the snout.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, right? We do this a few more times, and you’re gonna feel a lot better!”

The wolf huffs at that, and the engineer hurries to get back to work, before Sato decides he’s listened to enough of his bullshit. Thankfully, he has some practice by now, so he takes care of the other three legs in just under an hour. The deep cut in Sato’s thigh is a little more work (some of the stitches have ripped), but overall, there seems to be a lot of reason for some cautious optimism. While slowly pulling away the bandage covering the puncture wound, Tony can’t help but feel extremely proud of himself. This is awesome, it really is! And Sato keeps his “promise” and stays still while his injuries get cleaned and re-dressed, even though he keeps on making this sad, painful, high pitched whine that sends shudders down Tony’s spine.

“I know, I’m almost done, almost done... Just keep still, okay, slow and steady, slow... And steady, see? There you go!”, he grins as he smoothes down another self-adherent bandage on the wolf’s neck and scratches underneath his chin, “seems like we’re done, buddy!”

_Sir, if I may make a suggestion: With the wolf already awake, it would be a good time to try and immobilize the shoulder in a way that allows it to move a little better._

Tony blinks once, twice, and then sighs. That’s gonna be a nightmare. But of course, the AI is right. The sheets are barely holding together, and there’s no way Sato can get up without ripping them apart.So it’s time to figure out a solution. Thankfully, he’s great at that kind of thing.

“Okay! Here’s what we’re gonna do: I’m gonna get those sheets loose. Then, you”, he points at the wolf, who lifts his head to sniff at his finger, “are gonna get up and then _keep standing still_, so that I can _somehow_ wraps those sheets under-- Ugh, I’m gonna die today, aren’t I?”

Sato woofs and nudges his hand gently. If he’s gonna die, it probably won’t be a violent death, but an embarrassing one. Crushed by a giant wolf, on accident. That’ll make for a few interesting headlines. It’s got a nice ring to it. Still, that doesn’t mean Tony won’t try, because he’s a man of science, and he never backs down from a challenge.

“Alright, let’s do this!”

Turns out it’s an even bigger struggle than he expected. After cutting the sheets loose, Tony turns towards Sato with determination. The wolf looks interested enough when he puts his hands under his head and starts to push. First, he gets pushed away, gently and almost playful, and while that’s kinda sweet, it also isn’t very helpful. When he tries again with a little more effort, he gets an irritated grumble, and then a protesting whine when he puts more muscle into it. By the time the huge animal actually struggles up onto three legs, Tony is sweating, his back is aching and he’s thinking about karma again.

No time to dwell on that thought, because then he has to hurry and grab the sheets. He swallows and pointedly doesn’t look at the trembling legs before crouching down just a bit and walking under Sato’s belly. The relief he feels when he doesn’t get crushed to death is overwhelming.

“Okay, okay, now - Lie down again. SLOWLY!”, he yells, but it’s to late, and the wolf cries out when he hits the ground.

The whole lab shakes at the impact, and Tony cringes when he sees Sato whine and shake. That... Doesn’t look too good. But since JARVIS doesn’t sound any alarms, he quickly grabs onto the sheets and pulls them tight (but not too tight), and then up and over the still immobilized shoulder. There, he staples it all together and steps back to take a look at his handiwork.

“How’re we looking, J?”, he asks slightly out of breath,”did I just ruin everything?”

_Quite the contrary, sir. The limp is immobilized and the other injuries are clean and seem to be healing well._

“And what’s the prognosis?”

_Considering the state it arrived in, its current condition and the remaining risk of complication, I’d estimate a 70% chance of survival._

“Hm. That’s not perfect, but I think we can live with those odds for now, right, Sato?”

The wolf blinks his golden eyes when he cards a hand through the grey-white fur and stretches his neck. Before the engineer can react, he opens his maw and gently licks at Tony’s dirty hand, cleaning away some of the blood.

** _Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump._ **

“And what about those spikes, hm? Got anything new in the meantime?”

_Indeed, sir. Judging by the data the last few hours provided, it seems those spike also occur whenever you address the wolf directly. There are also the already observed reactions to touch, pain and proximity Would you like to see for yourself?_

“Yeah, I would. Start it up, dear!”

Tony ends up reviewing the newest set of data right there on the floor, with Sato’s head in his lap and a tablet in one hand, while the other keeps on petting the warm fur. It’s just like the AI said. Reactions to touch and pain, and whenever Tony gets closer - But also whenever he steps away again, but not always... Weird. There are definitely patterns, but so far, he hasn’t figured them out completely.

With a sigh, he pulls up some more of the readings, brain waves and muscle tone and heart rate. Those are, of course, elevated, or rather normal, considering that Sato’s awake and aware now. Energy levels are just slightly elevated, but they’ve been higher before, and then Tony was on the other side of the room... But they’ve also been a lot lower, and that’s with Tony sitting right next to him. Ugh, this sucks! None of the data aligns the way you’d expect it to, or at least not as often as necessary for it to make any sense. And that’s annoying, because none of this is Tony’s field of expertise. He’s an engineer, no biologist, no zoologist, nothing like that!

“Think we might need to look at all of this from another angle. JARVIS, I need you to look at everything you’ve recorded so far. Try and find me something, anything, that would explain those responses. Find me those triggers, or at least some way to explain them. If it’s not strictly mechanical or biological, maybe it’s-- And that’s where you come in. We clear?”

_Of course, sir. It seems like the meat you set out is now defrosted._

“Hear that, wolfie? It’s lunch time for well behaved wolves!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaaand another one ^^ (even though it's pretty short this time) Things are going well, I'm still about 4-5 chapters ahead, and I'm optimistic to keep this pace for about another week! Also, I think it's realistic to say that this story will be about 15 chapters AT LEAST, and about 20 chapters at most (famous last words, especially for me, so don't believe anything I say). 
> 
> So yeah, hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think, feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

“Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew EW! God, this is disgusting! Oh fuck, I’m gonna puke, I’m gonna puke all over this disgusting shit!”

DUM-E whirrs and tries to come over (to do hell knows what, he’s not even capeable of carrying a bucket over), but Tony waves him off impatiently. No matter what he says, he’s got better control over his stomach. He can do this. Even if it is, in fact, absolutely disgusting.

True to his word, JARVIS has ordered to closest thing to what a wolf might hunt out in the wild, apart from ordering a whole cow, which would’ve just been so much worse. Cutting open one of the two plastic bags, Tony gags at the sight of a slab of bloody, cool meat that greets him, and wonders how the fuck he’ll do this. There’s blood already dripping down onto the floor, which, hey, isn’t all that concerning of a sight anymore, but it’s not great, either. The one good thing: Sato seems VERY interested. The moment Tony cuts open the bag, his ears perk up, then the nose starts to twitch, and now he’s licking his lips and starts to stretch his neck long.

“You’re hungry, huh? Wanna try some of this and tell me if you like it?”

Sato whines, but it’s an eager sound this time, as he tries to crawl forward. Before he can aggravate his broken leg and shoulder any more, Tony quickly walks forward and then- Turns the bag upside down and dumps the bloody piece of meat onto the ground. It makes an awful slapping sound as it splatters onto the marble, but there’s no way in heaven or hell he’s gonna touch that with his own two hands, so the floor will have to suffer instead.

“Uh, bon appétit?”

Before he has even finished that sentence, the whole thing is already gone. In the blink of an eye Sato has sunk his teeth into it and swallowed it all without even a moment of hesitation. Licking his lips, the wolf looks at Tony with huge, pleading eyes, nudging his nose against the engineer’s leg.

“... Okay. Apparently you liked that. Which is great. One moment, more’s coming!”

The second serving is gone even faster, which shouldn’t be physically possible, but somehow Sato makes it work. And looks completely heartbroken when there’s nothing left. He even goes so far as to lick the watery blood from the dirty floor, and ew, that’s not good, so Tony quickly gets up and opens his new serial killer freezer, pulling out three more bags. They’re cold, but not completely frozen yet (that freezer needs a little longer to reach the right temperature, which is good for now), and he quickly cuts them open - Which turns out to be a good decision, because Sato seems done waiting, and almost rips the bags from his hands.

“Hey, hey, slow down, will you!”, the engineer yelps, but doesn’t hesitate any longer before dumping more meat on the ground.

The wolf descends on it with a low growl, and Tony starts to worry just a little bit. There’s that whole thing about animals and instincts, and yeah, those seem to kick in right about now. After cutting open the last bags he quickly dumps the meat on the floor and then takes a few cautious steps back. Sato doesn’t seem to notice, too busy wolfing (haha!) down his meal, all the while huffing, grumbling and growling as he tears the meat apart and greedily licks away the blood it leaves on the marble floor. His whole body is trembling with excitement and his ears are laid back, teeth bared.

Tony watches all of that with equal parts fascination and fear because, fuck... This is a little worrying. Good thing he stepped back when he did, because right now he isn’t sure the wolf wouldn’t bite off one of his legs, even if it happened on accident. Instincts, after all, and those are not something to take lightly. Looking at the protruding rips, hip bones and spine, he knows that Sato has been starving for a long time, so it’s no surprise he’s this greedy. Still, he also doesn’t like seeing that crazed, almost manic look in his golden eyes as he tears through his meal, because it makes him think what it would be like if things were different - If Sato ever decided to turn that look onto him. It’s not a very nice thought, so he quickly discards it.

“Alright, seems like you’re busy. I’ll leave you to it, then. Gonna defrost some more meat, get some work done... Yeah, you enjoy that meat. Not gonna bother you.”

Twenty minutes later, and the freezer is empty. Tony stares a little dazedly into it, while Sato is rumbling happily, licking his lips and wagging his tail lazily. On the one hand, he’s glad the stuff is gone. On the other hand - That was a lot of meat. Which Sato has devoured in less than an hour. And while he seems content now, he’ll be hungry again soon enough.

“Wow. Okay. That was- Quick. JARVIS, how long till he needs more?”

_Wolves often don’t feed for several days at a time. They usually hunt and feed on their prey, which can last them a whole week, easily. Considering the amount it ate and its condition, I’d estimate you’d need to feed it in about two days again._

Tony remembers that. The documentaries he watched talked about that at length, and he remembers watching a group of about seven wolves hunt and kill a buffalo, and then feasting on it moments later. The narrator also mentioned that it’s normal for them to gobble everything down, since they often don’t have time to chew, and then carry it back to the pack that way (where they vomit it back up, but he really hopes it doesn’t come to that with Sato), so he’s not too worried about the wolf’s greed.

“But that’s in a scenario where he wouldn’t be able to hunt and feed because of circumstances. How about hunger? How long till he’s hungry again?”

_I believe it’d be happy to feed again in a matter of hours, sir._

“Cool. Then order more meat, will you? And make sure it’ll be here before his stomach starts growling again.

_As you wish, sir._

For now, Sato seems happy, and that’s good. Lying back onto his slightly less damaged side, he takes care to lick his snout and paws clean before dropping his head and letting out a content sigh. It’s not much longer until his breathing evens out, and then he’s asleep again. Tony huffs a breath and shakes his head at the huge animal. This is gonna be a nightmare. If he keeps this up, he’ll have to calculate with about one to two hundred pounds of raw meat _on a daily basis_. And sure, money is not the problem, but it’s just... Ugh, laborious. Tony doesn’t like stuff like that. Also, that’s assuming that Sato will stick around long enough for it to even become a problem, and that’s a thought he needs to be careful with. Nothing is certain, for now, and he’ll keep it that way for as long as possible. More problems for Future Tony to worry about.

For now, Present Tony settles in for reviewing more data and starts to think about possible solutions. While the wolf sleeps, he once again tries to make sense of what he’s seeing on the screens, muttering and cursing all the while. After two hours, he starts pulling up information about neurology and zoology, reads up on stimulus response recorded from dogs (wolves are hardly used when it comes to behavioral science experiments, so he’ll have to make due) and refreshes what he once knew about synaptic transmission. Still, all it does is show how weird those response patterns really are, because nothing lines up the way it should, and he’s slowly running out of ideas.

“What’re we thinking about this, J? You got any suggestions?”

_Not for the moment, sir. Perhaps there is yet another factor you haven’t identified yet._

“That’s the problem, isn’t it? Finding that one damned trigger...”, the engineer mutters as he puts the tablet down and rubs a hand over his face.

It’s not mechanical, not entirely mental, not entirely physical, it’s somewhere in the between, and that’s the part that bothers Tony. It’s not something he can grab and hold onto in order to analyze it, because it’s not something concrete. And that’s not even talking about what he can actually touch. Brain waves are something concrete, too, or the heart rate, anything he can measure! This, he can measure, but it’s not tide to any parameter he knows how to interpret. He’s stuck. He’ll need to start testing. There’s no other way to figure out what he’s dealing with here, or at least start with eliminating the type of input that _won’t _trigger a response. And then he can look at the data again, and then he can find some answers.

“New data file, J. Project name _Wolfie Science_. Put all of our data in there, and then get those scanners of yours ready for some action. First order of business: We need to create a baseline. Calculate that from what you’ve seen so far. Then we’re gonna start with the first trigger: Proximity. We’ll see how that goes, and then we’ll start with the next one.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer before walking back towards the wolf. Sato is asleep now, so he’ll have to include that in their experiment, but otherwise it’s perfect. A response in this state would be weird in any way, especially one as pronounced as he’s expecting.

_Everything is ready for you, sir._

“Awesome, then let’s do this!”

A few hours later, Tony is tired, but not all that wiser. Sure, he has tons of data to review now, and there are some interesting patterns showing up, but he has not solved his problem yet.

Proximity works. Sometimes. When he steps closer, there’s a spike. It decreases after a few moments. _Sometimes_. Sometimes it stays up longer. No regularity there, even though those differences don’t have to be statistically significant. But so far, Sato (or rather the energy source) reacts to his proximity. Tony then tests it with DUM-E, just to make sure it’s not just him but anything that comes closer. There’s a spike the first time, but it comes much later, and is gone much sooner. By the second and third time, there’s hardly any reaction at all. When Tony steps closer again, there’s another spike. DUM-E looks a little disappointed when JARVIS announced that, but Tony pats the robot and thanks him for his help, and that gets him whirring excitedly again.

Next up is touch. This one wields results immediately. Touch the wolf, there’s a spike, then the energy levels stay elevated until a few moments after Tony steps back again. Those spikes return whenever Tony touches and pets Sato’s soft-coarse fur, and the wolf rumbles happily, even in his sleep. Touch is easier to understand, it seems. Touching provokes a clear, regular response.

“Okay, so this is something we can write down: Touching is good. We like touching, don’t we?”, he adds with a grin as he scratches underneath Sato’s chin, “and that’s a pattern we can rely on. So, onto the next test!”

Next trigger would be pain, and Tony promptly decides to skip that one. The thought of putting the huge animal into any more distress for the sole reason of _maybe _getting some more useable data makes him cringe and shudder, so he’ll just not do that. Tony is many things, but he’s not cruel. He never was, and he never, EVER will be. He’s seen more than enough cruelty to last him for several lifetimes, and so he only shakes his head and jumps to the next option.

That way, he works himself through a short list of stimuli. After touch, it’s sound, and that turns out to be pretty boring. First of all, he can’t use any too loud noises, because the wolf needs to stay asleep, or he’ll have to start over. And then, it shows that there are hardly any spikes when it comes to regular, moderate sounds. One or two at the beginning, but that’s about it. His voice is another interesting topic, but he soon stops talking to the wolf, because JARVIS is quick to point out that he’s apparently close to waking up. So, strong response, but nothing he can use right now. Maybe later, once Sato’s awake again. After half an hour, he goes over to the next one.

Light yields about the same result, which are pretty much none. Temperature is a little tricky to test right now, so he’ll save that for later. Smell is a different story. He can’t really test his own smell (though he’d be really interested how that plays out), but the moment he grabs one of the empty meat bags, the black nose starts twitching, and then Sato is awake before Tony can even think about putting it back away.

“Great, just great”, the engineer mutters, and then he’s busy pushing the wolf away and patiently explaining that no, there’s no more food at the moment, and he’ll just have wait a little longer, “so I guess we’re done testing for the day. That meat getting any closer to being delivered, J?”

The rest of the day (or night, or whatever, Tony has long since lost track of time) passes rather quietly. The meat gets delivered about an hour later, and Tony only nods tiredly at the guys carrying about four hundred pounds of frozen meat into the living room, dumping them (after a lot of hesitation on their part and a lot of impatient hand waving on his part) on the already ruined carpet. He can only hope they won’t pay any attention to the footprints he has yet to clean up. So he makes sure to tip them more than generously and then shoos them outside and shuts the door.

Carrying it all downstairs is a drag, and he decides then and there that he’ll build a robot that can do it for him, starting tomorrow, but it’s kinda worth it when Sato woofs excitedly the moment he spots all the food that’s brought to him. After putting most of the bags into his new freezer, the engineer grins and only grimaces ever so slightly when he starts cutting those bags and dumps their contents on the floor without thinking too much about the stains all of this going to leave. Then he steps back rather quickly as Sato starts to “wolf out” once again, growling and snarling as he gobbles it all down with gusto. Tony keeps his distance and then walks back to his workstation. It’s time to clear his head, because all of this is beginning to feel like on huge headache, and that’s always a bad sign. So he gets back to what he was doing just before the wolf crash landed in his lab - Working on the suit’s gauntlets, trying to increase their dexterity without sacrificing a single layer of armor. It’s complicated and just challenging to keep him busy for hours on end. DUM-E offers him the arrows he’s pulled out of Sato just a short while ago, but he directs the eager robot to put it away for now. He needs to let all of this rest for now. Also, there’s something about the fact that those things were buried in the wolf’s flesh not too long ago that makes him cringe and back away. JARVIS tells him to eat, and so he allows the AI to order some Thai food and ends up feeding Sato at least half of his fried rice and pork sweet and sour. The wolf likes it, but not as much as the pizza (and why is Tony secretly happy about that?), and falls asleep soon after. The engineer keeps on working and declining calls, because he can’t deal with Pepper now, or Rhodey for that matter, and he gets lost in his work. It’s good, it’s really good. Slowly, ever so slowly, he feels the tension leave his shoulders and his muscles relax (as much as they can in their cramped position, anyway). It almost feels like just a few days ago, before all of this insanity started. The only difference is Sato’s slow, even breathing in the background. And Tony finds that he actually likes that sound a lot.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! And a few new tags: Nightmares, panic attacks, all that fun stuff, so please be careful and take care of yourself <3  
So yeah, you might've noticed a little bit of bonding happening so far - It's only gonna get worse, now ;) 
> 
> Thanks again for the kudos and the comments - They make my day and fuel my creativity!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter, lemme know what you think, and have a great day!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

Tony startles awake, heart racing, breathing heavily, lungs heaving. There’s adrenaline coursing through his veins, and his muscles are trembling as he turns his head around, looking around in panic, trying to find something, _anything_ that could hurt him, because FUCK, he know this, he knows this feeling, this fear, this PANIC, and he wants, he needs, he fucking needs--

Then, there’s something soft and wet nudging his cheek, and Tony flinches violently, whipping his head around. And then he’s staring into Sato’s golden eyes. The huge wolf is looking at him... Almost concerned, with wide, attentive eyes, and then he woofs lowly and leans forward, nudging his cheek again with his black nose. A shudder runs down Tony’s spine as he slowly comes back down, remembering. Right, he’s- He’s in his lab. Must’ve fallen asleep at his work station, which isn’t all that unusual. And he must’ve had a nightmare. Also anything but unusual. Taking a deep breath in, he closes his eyes and tries to will his racing heart to slow the fuck down, because there’s no reason to pump this fast, since there is literally _nothing _going on right now. Sato woofs again, and he sounds almost impatient now. He’s nudging the engineer again, pushing his big snout against Tony’s chest, licking at the arc reactor through his t-shirt, until he almost falls off of his stool.

“Hey, easy, easy, now!”, he mutters as he pushes his hands against the snout and gently presses back, “I’m up, I’m up, what’s the matter?”

Sato whines low in his throat, pressing closer, but not so hard that the engineer is in any danger of landing on his ass. Without thinking, he starts to card his fingers through the coarse fur, scratches the skin underneath and smiles ever so slightly when the wolf rumbles lowly. Leaning sideways, he can also see his wagging tail, and that’s- That’s good.

“What’re you doing up, anyway?”, he murmurs to himself as he takes in the whole big animal.

It seems like the wolf managed to get up onto his three legs and then proceeded to hobble over to where Tony is sitting now, without falling over (he’s pretty sure that mini earthquake would’ve woken him up) and then decided to harass him awake. Now’s, Sato is standing in front of his workstation, bending his head over it so that he can enjoy their impromptu cuddling session.

“Huh. Seems like really are getting better after all. He still doing okay, JARVIS?”

_Yes, sir. Vitals are stable, and the shoulder and leg are still immobilized. Your patient seems to be getting better, considering the relative ease it was able to move itself with._

“And why did you decide get up in the first place?”

The wolf is rumbling deeply in his chest, gently pressing his snout against the softly glowing arc reactor, licking his fingers whenever they get closer to his tongue. The engineer allows his eyes to slip closed again as he, once again, breathes deeply and feels his heart slow down just a little bit. Sato’s fur runs smoothly through his fingers, and he focuses on that, on what he can feel (the coarse fur and the warm skin underneath), smell (Sato has a calming, earthy scent that remind him of the woods he wandered through once or twice as a kid), hear (slow, even breathing and the occasional happy rumble whenever he scratches a particularly good spot) and see (those golden eyes once he blinks his own open again). 

“You got any idea, J? Why our wolfie is awake?”

_I’m not sure, sir. But it seems to have woken up once your own heart rate picked up, and it got up shortly afterwards. It seemed distressed as well, and very determined to reach you._

“Okay. So, you noticed I was stressing out in my sleep?”, he asks, looking back into the wolf’s golden-brown eyes, “that scared you? Sorry about that, buddy. Was just a nightmare, though. They happen pretty often, so you better get used to it.”

Sato grumbles at that, and Tony notices a slight tremble running through his frame. Looking at his legs, he can see them shaking, and starts to curse.

“Shit, of fucking course, you’re still too weak to be standing up! Bad wolfie! C’mon, lie down again, will you? Here, I’ll come around, yeah, no, don’t worry, I’m not gonna go away, see? Just sitting down on the floor, now could you-- Okay, yeah, uh-huh, awesome”, he wheezes once the wolf drops down onto the floor, heavy head landing in his lap.

It takes him a few moments to arrange them both (making sure none of his very important parts get squished by those huge jaws), but then it feels pretty... Nice. Sato sighs once they’re settled, and then closes his eyes when Tony starts scratching behind his fluffy ears.

“Yeah, you just go back to sleep. I’m alright, now, really. Kinda used to those nightmares by now, too. In the beginning, fuck, that was a shit show, let me tell you! Used to be too scared to go to sleep. Hell, I actually had to ask Rhodey to stay with me - Rhodey’s my best friend, awesome guy, really, I think you’d like him. Hopefully, he’ll never see you, ever. But yeah, I had to ask the guy to stay in my room, so that I could get a few hours of sleep. Can you believe it? I _never _had anyone watch over me like that, not even as a little kid. Never would’ve thought I’d ever get this bad. But here we are. And I’m a mess.”

Sato is looking at him again, eyes wide and shining with attention and- Concern? Are wolves even capable of that? Probably, in some way. Not that it matters right now. Tony simply shrugs and keeps on petting his giant companion. Who cares? Not like there’s anyone here to judge him for that thought, anyway.

“Yeah, I’m a mess. Probably should’ve told you before, so sorry. Now you know. But I guess that’s nothing new. I’ve been kind of a mess for, what? Fifteen years? Twenty? Twenty-five? Ah, who cares. For a long time, is what I’m saying. Those nightmares are just the cheery on the steaming pile of shit that is my mental health. So, welcome to the show!”

The wolf whines at that, then raises his head and gently, carefully licks at his chin. Tony grimaces, because _ew_, but he also doesn’t move away and endures it. Thinking back to those documentaries, he thinks that this one means - Caring? Comfort? Something good, he’s pretty sure. Or maybe he’s just trying to find out if Tony tastes good enough to serve as a midnight snack.

“You’re weird one, you know that? Okay, okay, calm down, I get it, I taste awesome, no surprise there! Head down, there you go, and stay still now, or there will be consequences, you hear me?”

There’s an annoyed huff, but Sato complies and keeps on watching him with wide eyes. It’s kinda weird, because Tony gets the impression he’s actually listening intently, which is not a thought he would’ve entertained just a few hours ago. Again, he shrugs it off and leans back a little to get more comfortable before he continues to talk.

“So yeah, nightmares. You’ll have to deal with those, though I’m actually glad you woke me up. Thanks for that, by the way. I owe you one, buddy.”

Sato woofs again, nudging his hand when he dares to pause his petting for just over five seconds, then sighs happily when he resumes it once again. His promise gets him thinking, too.

** _Thump Thump Thump_ ** _. _ ** _Thump Thump_ ** _. _ ** _Thump Thump Thump Thump._ **

“You get those, too? Nightmares, I mean. Ever had one?”

Tony doesn’t know if wolves even have nightmares, and he doubts there are any research papers on that topic, so he doesn’t bother asking JARVIS. Considering those injuries and the state he arrived in, he wouldn’t be surprised. He’d be surprised Sato _didn’t _have any nightmares. And that’s another topic he hasn’t thought too much about: What the hell happened to the wolf, anyway? Not even talking about where he came from, but what happened to him right before he landed in his lab?

“Don’t worry, I get it. I won’t judge you for it, either. If you do have those, I mean. I’ll wake you up, too. And I’ll make sure you can go back to sleep. Us messes have to watch out for each other, right?”

Sato huffs again, turning his head to catch his hand in his snout. The engineer yelps in fear, because if he now loses a few fingers it’ll definitely ruin the moment, let alone the rest of his week. But no, the wolf doesn’t bite down, only nibbles on them gently, licking them every now and then. God, that’s weird! Tony can’t help but stare in fascination as his entire hand gets covered in wolf saliva. So weird! But kinda... Nope, just super weird.

** _Thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump._ **

“Yeah, we’ll watch out for you”, he mumbles as he cocks his head and brushes his free hand through the warm fur, “and it gets better, too, you know? I think, at least. Still waiting for that to happen, to be honest. But people say so, most of them, or some of them- Ugh, whatever. We’ll find out at some point. And you’re not alone, either. You’ve got me. And DUM-E. And YOU. And JARVIS. Right, J? You’ve got Sato’s back?”

_Of course, sir._

“See, and that’s awesome, because JARVIS is awesome. And I’ve got people, too. Rhodey, for once. And he’s seen me at my absolute worst, really, there’s nothing that could shake that man anymore, I’ve personally made sure of that over many, many years. Honestly, I think you’d really like him, and fuck, maybe I’ll let you guys meet at some point after all. That’d be fun! Even if he strangles me afterwards.”

** _Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump._ **

“And I’ve got Pepper, too. Or I thought I did. Not so sure anymore. She’s usually here, too. I made her CEO not too long ago, but she used to be my assistant. She’s awesome, fiery and fierce and smart and funny and beautiful...”

Tony sighs wistfully and catches himself smiling at the mere thought of Pepper’s face and her warm smile. It doesn’t hurt so much right now, because, well, he’s still a little raw and shaky from his nightmare, and the thought of the woman he’s come to care for (love, but don’t tell anyone just yet) so much soothes an ache deep inside his chest.

“She’s really special. I think she’d like you, too”, he adds still smiling wistfully as he leans forward and ruffles his free hand through the grey-white fur, “I think she has a weakness for lone wolves. And you are one, aren’t you? A lone wolf.”

That’s another weird thing. All of his research has shown that wolves usually live in packs, and only leave them to find a mate, a new pack, or in order to build their own. But a wolf on its own won’t survive for long, since they can’t hunt any big game without the help of others, and can’t defend themselves when they get into a fight. So, maybe Sato was looking for a mate. That search seems to have gone downhill spectacularly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll hide you for now. Don’t need anyone to tell us that I’m crazy. I know that already.”

Sato is still nibbling on his hand, but he does gaze upwards and look at him expectantly, like he’s waiting for Tony to continue. Tony smiles despite himself and tries not to think too much about how soggy his hand already feels, and how close he actually is to those long, sharp teeth. Hopefully nothing will startle the wolf in the next few minutes, or he might just lose a few fingers. Or his whole hand, depending on how it goes.

“Yeah, I’m pretty crazy for keeping you here. But it’s not like there’s any other way. Where am I supposed to put you, huh? Not like I can just kick you out and hope you’ll find your way back home, wherever you came from. On the other hand, what else am I gonna do with you? You’re gonna be okay at some point, and then what? I can’t keep you in here forever, that’s just- Just wrong. You’re a pretty big guy, after all, and you’ll need more space, and other wolves, and, I don’t know, things to hunt? A pack? Jeez, I don’t know shit like that!”

The longer he thinks about it, the worse it all seems. Sato is getting better, great. He’ll be fine eventually, also great. And then he’ll need some place to go, which is- Well, which kinda sucks, because Tony has absolutely no idea where to even start looking for something like that. There’s no one he can ask, and even if there was, he probably wouldn’t, because if anyone gets wind of this, there’s no way Sato will ever see the outside world again. He’ll spend the rest of his life in a lab - And not one like this, where there’s pizza and good company and awesome music, but a sad, cold and sterile one, with nothing but a few spooky scientists who’ll poke and prod him for hours on end. Tony shudders at the thought, and leans forward to rest his forehead on Sato’s.

The wolf stops his nibbling and whines confusedly, but the engineer shushes him and pets his snout. Might be the aftershock of the nightmare, might be something else, but the thought of the wolf being locked away and used for experiments for the foreseeable future makes his heart clench and throat go dry.

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll just- Not think about that for now, alright? Think we can do that? Awesome, then let’s ignore that issue! Future Tony will find a solution, I’m sure. I hear he’s a pretty cool guy.”

** _Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump._ **

“See, I knew you’d like that plan!”, the engineer chuckles as he pulls his hand out of the wolf’s maw and wipes it on his pants, “and that’s enough with all those dark, depressing topics. Got any good news for us, J? I could use some right about now.”

_The wolf’s vitals have improved greatly over the last few hours, a lot more than I previously calculated. It seems almost unnatural, considering any data I have collected so far. I will keep on monitoring its progress and inform you of any significant changes._

“Cool! So, you’re doing better. And, let me guess: You’re hungry again?”

Sato’s ears immediately perk up, and he licks his lips, eyes widening and pupils dilating. It’s the most pronounced reaction to the mention of food Tony has ever seen, so he takes it as a resounding yes. Pushing the wolf’s heavy head up and out of his lap, he walks over to the freezer and starts to pull out a few bags. JARVIS was nice enough to turn up the temperature in one of the freezer’s compartments in time, so now about fifty pounds of meat are ready to be served. Good thing, too, because Sato is struggling up on his paws again, and would probably be really disappointed if there was nothing to eat right the fuck now. The engineer has some trouble pushing the big snout away as he struggles to cut open the bags and then just dumps it all of the floor again. He’ll have to figure out a better solution for that as well, because it’s disgusting and the smell of raw meat makes him want to throw up.

“Don’t worry, I won’t fight you for that”, he mutters as Sato gobbles it all down, body tense and growling lowly as he devours his snack, “I doubt anyone would, honestly. But don’t let that stop you, go ahead and enjoy.”

While the wolf enjoys his food, Tony checks the newest recorded data, and reviews some of the video footage as well. And that’s when things get interesting.

At first, there’s nothing interesting. Tony fell asleep at some point at the work station, and Sato stayed asleep. About three hours later, the wolf’s ears start to twitch, and there are a few spikes as well. Then, Sato blinks his eyes open, looking around confusedly for a couple of seconds, sniffing the air. His golden eyes are glowing in the dark lab, and then he whips around when Tony starts to mutter and twitch. Ah, so that’s where the nightmare starts. And that’s where Sato’s energy levels start to grow elevated as well. The wolf whines, and when there’s no reaction, he struggles onto his three legs and stumbles through the lab, eyes trained on Tony’s struggling form. He crosses the distance and then comes to a halt right in front of the work station. That’s when the readings go a little crazy. Sato doesn’t move, only stares at Tony’s sleeping form for a few seconds, but during that time, there are numerous big spikes, and the chain doesn’t rise up, even as he bends his head and starts nudging him. When that doesn’t work, the readings rise even more, until Tony watches himself startle awake and look around, scared and confused. The energy levels stay pretty high, up until the moment the engineer turns to face him, and then starts petting the wolf. After a minute or two, everything calms down again, especially once they sit (or lie) side by side on the floor. There are a few more spikes, but smaller ones than before, and less frequent.

“Huh”, Tony murmurs and pulls up the vitals as well, “would you look at that...”

Vital signs show elevated breathing and heart rate - Pretty much your standard stress reaction. But those spikes... They line up, but not the whole time. Safe to say: Sato is stressed out, because Tony is stressed out. Which he can get behind with. What he’s still wondering about are those extreme spikes in the few moments Sato was waiting for him to wake up.Those, he has no explanation for so far. Just like the rest. But okay, this is something more he can try to understand, and the more data the better! Theoretically, at least. Also good to know: When Tony calms down, the wolf calms down as well. That’s something he should remember.

“You’re paying a lot more attention than I thought”, he murmurs with a look at the wolf licking the floor clean, “you know what’s up. Even if I didn’t that realize until now.”

Sato turns to look at him, blinking happily and licking his lips. Yeah, that one knows what’s up, on some level at least. He knows whenever Tony is awake, he knows when he’s moving around in the lab, he knows when the engineer is worried or stressed or anything else. Makes him wonder what he’s been broadcasting without even realizing it. Animals apparently have a knack for picking up on the subtle clues - Body language, gestures, stress levels and all those things that humans recognize, too, but aren’t really aware of, at least not consciously. So why wouldn’t Sato pick up on shit like that?

That’ll be interesting in the future, too. Tony is not exactly what you’d call _emotionally stable_, so he cringes a little at the thought of what he’s showing the wolf in every waking moment - And sleeping moment as well, it seems. Great, even more things to worry about! Not like he has enough on his plate already.

“Future Tony better get his shit together fast, or we’re gonna have some huge problems really soon. But okay, let him figure it all out! Hey, wolfie, you wanna--”

_Sir, Colonel Rhodes is at the front door._

“WHAT? The fuck is he doing he?”, Tony sputters as he jumps to his feet and starts to panic.

Because this is bad, oh fuck, this is _really bad_!

“Shit shit shit shit shit!”, he mutters as he starts pacing through the lab, desperately trying to think of a solution, “why didn’t you tell me sooner? Wait, no, I don’t even wanna know! It doesn’t matter! Make him go away!”

_I have already tried, sir, but he insists on seeing you personally. He could not be persuaded to leave._

JARVIS can be quite persuasive if he wants to, but Rhodey is a difficult case, and Tony knows he won’t be moved if he’s decided to come and visit, and that’s a problem, because they are nowhere near ready to deal with unannounced visitors!

“Okay. Okay, okay, okay, oh fucking hell, this is bad, this is _so bad_! Uh, JARVIS, gimme some options here!”

_Colonel Rhodes has already stepped into the mansion._

“WHAT?!? Why the fuck would let him do that, are you insane?!?”

_He was threatening to use force--_

“Let him use force, then! What can he-- Uh, wait, no, he’s got a suit as well, now.”

_Indeed, sir. I thought it better to let him enter through the front door, rather than put on the suit and enter through one of the windows._

Tony nods along, silently cursing himself for ever letting Rhodey keep the suit (and also acting like there was any way for him to take it from the guy) and tries to think of a way to hide a giant fucking wolf from his best friend. Sato is not helping in any way, whining and crawling closer, apparently worried because Tony is freaking the fuck out over here!

“Hey, don’t do that, don’t move, stay over there, okay?”, he murmurs lowly, walking over to the nervous wolf and gently petting his fur, “it’s okay, it’s all good. JARVIS, tell Rhodey I’m gonna be there in literally one minutes, just- _Do not let him get down here_!”

_I will try my best, sir._

“Good, good. Okay, listen up, wolfie. I’m gonna go upstairs real quick, and deal with all of this. You’re gonna stay here, and be really quiet, not make a sound, alright? I promise I’ll be back right away, and nothing bad will happen. So, you just stay here and be a good wolfie, and all of this will be over soon, okay?”

Sato looks doubtful, but that’s all Tony can offer for the moment. So he forces a smile on his face, ruffles the wolf’s warm fur one more time before getting up and taking a few deep breaths. Yeah, he can do this. Talk to Rhodey for a few minutes, tell him he’s busy working, make him leave as soon as possible.

_Sir, Colonel Rhodes--_

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming! Alright, buddy, you just stay here- Hey, what’s going on with you?”, because Sato has frozen and has turned his head, looking at something behind Tony.

There’s something worrying about the tense muscles, the fixed stare and- Oh shit, the bared teeth, what the hell? Tony swallows at the anger and aggression he now sees for the very first time and fights the urge to step back. When the wolf lets out a low, deep growl, the engineer feels a shudder run down his spine, and only then does he think to turn and follow Sato’s gaze. The wolf staring at the remains of the lab’s glass walls - And right into Rhodey’s shocked face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger, too. I couldn't resist ^^


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Am I crazy for posting so soon again? Yes. Is this schedule keeping me from doing anything productive kther than writing fanfiction? ... Yes. But who cares, am I right? xD Also, I'm still four chapters ahead, so we should be good for now! And I kinda felt bad for that cliffhanger, so yeah... 
> 
> Here you go! Enjoy, and let me know what you think! Hope it meets your expectations :)
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

Tony’s first thought is that he needs to fire JARVIS ASAP. His next thought is that that’s gonna be difficult, because, well, it’s an AI, and then his brain provides him with the rather entertaining mental image of a circuit board packing its suitcase and then taking a cab to the nearest airport. Then he thinks what the fuck, he can’t fire JARVIS, he’s gonna be dead within a week without his help! And then he remembers that motherfucking fuck, Rhodey’s here, and he’s looking at Sato and is probably extremely close to a heart attack! This is so bad, he is so fucked, and he needs to do something, _say something_\--

“I can totally explain this!”

Rhodey blinks a few times and turns towards him with an open mouth.

“I seriously doubt that.”

“Uh, yeah. Now that I think about it, I do, too.”

Sato growls deeply, baring his teeth as he rises up, and Tony can see Rhodey shrink back a little. Yeah, he kinda forgot about just how big the wolf actually is, and now that his hackles are rising, he looks ready to kill something-- Oh shit, he’s looking like he’s ready to kill _Rhodey_!

“Hey, hey, okay, let’s- Let’s calm down a bit, okay?”, he hurriedly whispers as he turns towards the wolf, “and let’s not think about killing Rhodey, alright, ‘cause he’s kind of my best friend, so close that maw of yours and be a nice wolfie again!”

It doesn’t work. Sato growls again, slowly and deliberately moving towards the glass wall, and thereby moving towards a pretty frightened looking Rhodey. This is bad, this is really bad! Tony’s eyes are darting through he lab, but the suit is too far away, and he doubts that a) he’ll be able to put it on quickly enough, and b) that it’d be a good idea to leave the wolf’s side right now.

“Tones...?!?”, Rhodey calls as he stumbles back a few steps, “what the hell is--”

“Don’t worry, okay, just- Just try to stay calm!”

“Calm? You’ve gotta be--”

“Yeah, yeah, I know- HEY! STOP THAT!”

That works. Sato flinches when he pushes roughly against his side, and his growling stops for just a few seconds. Tony is a little surprised himself, but there’s no time to wonder about any of this, because he needs to get this under control right the fuck now, so he pushes on.

“Stop growling at Rhodey. Right the fuck now! Bad wolf! Really bad wolf!”, he adds for lack of a better idea, and--

Wow, that works, too. It works pretty well, actually. Sato flinches again (and okay, that’s not all that good, but it’s a necessary evil right now) and then turns to look at Tony with big, confused eyes. The engineer surpresses the urge to close his eyes and- Whatever. Fall asleep, maybe, and wake up to brighter reality. Instead, he reaches out and pets the wolf’s head gently, carding his hand through the dirty pelt and trying to calm down as well. If his theory is correct, Sato feeds off of whatever he’s broadcasting, at least emotionally, so panicking is not a good idea right this second.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, hm? That’s just Rhodey. No reason to lose your shit. He’s- He’s not a threat, okay? So don’t be an asshole about this?”

The wolf looks conflicted, but also a little less murder-y, so that’s progress. Tony keeps on petting the big head and tries to will his own heart to slow down. When Sato rumbles lowly (and contently) in his chest, he turns back around to look at Rhodey. His best friend is staring at him like- Well, like he’s just seen a giant fucking wolf in his lab, and there’s really no way he can give him shit for that. With a deep breath, he forces a smile on his face and waves.

“Hey, Rhodey! You wanna come in and meet a new friend?”

“You’re kidding me, right? Please tell me you’re kidding!”

“Nah, I’m being serious here! Just, uh, just try and stay calm? And don’t panic. And no sudden movements, I think those won’t really help, either. And maybe don’t come too close for now. Just- Come inside and we’ll see how it goes.”

“You’re insane, right? Other than you, I don’t have a fucking death wish!”

“C’mon, you’ll be fine! Wolfie won’t try and bite your head off, right? No, you wouldn’t do that, hm?”, Tony adds with a look at Sato, who’s still grumbling, but doesn’t seem murderous for now.

That’s as good as it’s going to get. Tony has no illusions that he’d be able to stop the wolf should he really decide to charge, but he has a feeling that trying to keep all of them calm and not panicking himself could work out just fine. The wolf woofs when he flicks one of his ears, and Tony grins. Not so much of a murderous monster, anymore.

“Yeah, I think we’ll be good. Come on in, Rhodey! There’s someone I want you to meet!”

It’s an immense show of trust, built over decades of close, deep friendship, that Rhodey actually pushes the glass door open and walks into the lab. The engineer can feel the tension in the lab rising immediately again, so he holds up a hand and gestures for Rhodey to stop. Sato is growling again, eyes fixated on his friend’s face, so he buries his hands in the warm fur and _pulls_.

“Okay, okay, down you go! That’s it, just lie down, lie down and don’t get up, you hear me?”

The ground shakes when Sato drops down, and Tony swears he can hear Rhodey swallow on the other side of the room, but at least the wolf lets out a sigh and nuzzles into Tony’s hand. The engineer lowers down to the floor as well, sitting down next to big snout and looking back at Rhodey.

“See?”

“See what, exactly?”

“That we’re doing fine so far! I think you can come closer, a few steps at least.”

Rhodey seems to still be in shock, because he does just that, with a lot of hesitation and fearful eyes. It’s kinda weird seeing him this scared and nervous, because, well, it’s Rhodey. Tony can’t think of many times where he’s seen him like that, and he feels pretty bad about putting him through all of that. Can’t be helped right now, so he tries not to worry too much. Sato does growl a little, but Tony is quick to tap a finger onto the broad snout and click his tongue.

“Ah-ah-ah! Behave, wolfie! Be nice to Uncle Rhodey!”

He gets a confused whine as an answer, so that’s- Good? Fuck, he’s still no expert on wolves, he’s just a human mess trying to keep all of them alive, and that’s not the best of qualification to have when it comes to dangerous situations! But they’re all still alive, so that’s... Whatever. They’re alive, and he’ll try to keep it that way. Once Rhodey is about fifteen feet away, he puts up a hand again.

“Alright, stay there for a moment, no need to rush any of this. See, that’s the guy I told you about! My friend Rhodey. Best friend there is. Remember what I said about him?”

Sato whines again, and it sounds like an agreement. Or maybe he’s really losing his mind. Either way, taking things slow seems like the best option right now.

“Yeah, you remember, don’t you? And this- This is Sato. He’s a... Wolf. A pretty big one, as you’ve probably noticed already. He’s still a little nervous, and I think he doesn’t like strangers. But he’s a really nice wolfie, and he promises to be nice and not bite your leg off. Sounds like a deal to you?”

Rhodey doesn’t look like the heard a single word Tony just said, but he does nod slowly as he waves at the two of them.

“... Hi... Sato?”

“He says hi as well. Wanna come a little closer again?”

This time, they make it to a distance of barely ten feet before Sato grumbles again. It’s not a full on growl, but his hackles stay high and he’s anything but relaxed. Tony will take what he can get, though, and he quickly pets the wolf’s head again. Positive reinforcement, and all that. Even he knows about that idea.

“Good wolf! See, he’s no threat to you! Or anyone else, for that matter”, Tony mutters, because let’s face it, there’s no one he can think of who could actually overpower the giant animal, “but Rhodey here is a great guy. And he won’t hurt you.”

There’s silence for a couple of seconds while he ruffles the warm fur and does his best to keep himself calm. This is- Well, this is actually going rather well. At least better than he thought it would, considering how things started. Taking another deep breath, he lifts his head and looks at Rhodey again.

“So... This is a little weird.”

“Tony- What- What is all-- What the fuck is going on here?”

“Uhm. Well. I’ll admit, it’s a little hard to explain.”

“Then you better start trying right the fuck now!”

“Okay, okay! There’s actually not that much to say. A couple of days ago, there was an explosion, and that’s when Sato showed up, like in the middle of the lab. He was pretty much dead, and we had no clue- We _still _ have no clue where he came from. And yeah, JARVIS told me that he was dying, and I... I couldn’t let that happen, so I did my best to stitch him back up, and apparently I did an awesome job, because he’s still alive, and it seems like he’s gonna heal in no time at all. So, uh... Here he is. And that’s pretty much all there is to say. I really don’t know shit about anything else.”

“... I need a drink.”

“Small cupboard on your right, third drawer from the top. Pick your poison.”

“Not a dream, then.”

“That was my hope at first, too. I haven’t woken up so far, but here’s to hoping!”

They clink their glasses and both down what’s left in them. Rhodey picked a bottle of gin, and sure, it tastes good, but Tony doesn’t really care all that much. What’s way more important is the fact that they’re sitting side by side, with Sato’s head in his lap, and so far there are no lost limbs to record. The wolf is still eyeing their guest warily, but he no longer growls, and he has stopped looking all that worried. Rhodey, on the other hand, has calmed down enough to not panic whenever the wolf lets out a sigh or twitches, which definitely helps with the whole atmosphere in the lab. So yeah, things are kinda looking up. For now.

“Shit, this is weird.”

“I know, right? I mean, I guess I’m kinda used to him by now, but it’s still a shock sometimes. Like, when I wake up at some point, and he’s just _there_. But yeah, that’s getting better, too. We’re getting along pretty well, huh?”, he adds with a grin and chuckles when Sato whines and lifts his head, licking his chin and cheek and nose.

Rhodey is watching him with slightly lidded eyes, because he’s had about a third of that bottle, and he’s well on his way to be really drunk. Good, that’s good. Bad that Tony is the one staying kinda sober, but good that Rhodey is no longer panicking. Better to stay calm.

** _Thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump._ **

Tony laughs when Rhodey jumps a little at the sound, because it’s kinda funny to see a usually so put together guy lose his shit at stuff like that (ignoring the fact that he reacted even worse when it happened to him the first time).

“Don’t worry, he’s just enjoying his scratches. Likes those a lot, the big guy. Likes being petted and shit like that.”

“What the fuck...”, Rhodey mumbles as he turns to look at the wagging tail, “Tones, what- What is even going on here?”

“Seriously? I just spent an hour explaining everything to you again, because your dumb brain couldn’t handle it the first time. Didn’t you listen?”

“No, I mean: What are you doing here? What were you thinking? Something like this- You can’t just keep that a secret! You’ve gotta let people know, people who can actually handle any of this!”

“Hey, I _am _handling it, okay--”

“Are you, though? Because this doesn’t look all that great to me, to be honest!”

“Well, you should’ve seen how he looked when he first crash landed in here!”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!”, Rhodey yells as he struggles upright, “do you even SEE what’s happening here? There’s a giant fucking wolf in your lab, you’ve got no idea where it came from, or what’s gonna happen when it decides that it’s done with you and attack you the moment you turn your back on it! You can’t just keep it here, you gotta--”

“Okay, hold on for a second!”, Tony interrupts as he pushes himself up as well, anger now coursing through his veins, “that’s not really fair, is it? ‘Cause I did the best I could in a fucked-up situation, and I did pretty damn well! He’s alive, he’s getting better, and none of us have died so far--”

“Oh, and that’s what we’re considering to be a good--”

“Fuck yeah, because like you said: This is a giant shit show so far! But I’m still here! And you are, too, because I took care of it! So yeah, I’m handling it! Better than anyone else would be able to!”

Rhodey is shaking his head, and Tony kinda wants to punch him. Because there’s that look again, the one he got a lot back at college, whenever he’d fucked up. And Rhodey hardly ever got all that angry, but he tended to get that damn disappointed look, like he couldn’t quite believe that Tony was actually that stupid. And that sucks, because he’s honestly pretty damn proud of all of this, and Rhodey can go fuck himself if he doesn’t understand that.

“You know what? Fuck you! You weren’t there, no one was! It was all me, and I did the best I could! No credit for that at all? Does that not matter, or what?”

“You really don’t get it, do you? There is a giant wolf in your lab, of completely unknown origin. And you decided to just- What? Keep it? Without ever telling anyone, or even attempting to get someone to come here, who might be better equipped to deal with all of this?”

“And who exactly would I call, huh? Got any contacts you wanna bring up right about now?”

“The military would’ve been a good start! Because they’d be able to--”

“To WHAT? Subdue him? Lock him up? Tie him down? No, forget it, that’s not gonna happen!”

“Then what’s the plan, exactly? You just gonna keep him here, in your lab? For how long? And how are you gonna hide him from literally the entire world?”

“It’s been working out so far--”

“Yeah, because you were lucky! How long do you think any of this is gonna go well?”

“I don’t know, alright? I’m just winging it, and I’m not dead yet--”

“THAT’S your argument? That you’re not dead yet? Are you seriously not--”

“Okay, alright, alright, I get it! This sucks, all of this sucks majorly! And I fucked up, because I honestly had no idea what else I was supposed to do! Fine, I get that, I do, no need to say it a thousand times! But he’s here now, and he hasn’t killed anyone yet, and I know - I KNOW that he’s not a monster just waiting to kill me, no matter how dangerous he might look. Okay? You just- you just gotta believe me on that one. So I’m not- I’m not gonna call anyone, least of all the fucking military. Because I already know what they’re gonna do: Pack him up, chain him down, and then they’re gonna lock him up in some lab and never, ever let him out again. And I won’t let that happen. No chance in hell.”

He’s trembling by the end of it, and quickly curls a hand in Sato’s warm fur, trying to anchor himself in this very moment. There’s something dangerous about getting this worked, especially when it comes to Rhodey. They’ve... Talked, or more like agreed silently that they both made mistakes but still love each other very much, and that that’s never gonna change. But things are still a little weird, a little awkward, and Tony feels on edge. Angry, and ready to lash out. And that’s not a good place to be in. So he needs to calm down, and not forget that this is his best friend. With a deep breath, he leans a little closer to the wolf’s head and pets the big snout that’s come up to sniff at his skin. Yeah, he has to keep it down, because the big guy needs to stay calm, too.

“Tones... Don’t you think you’re in over your head?”, Rhodey sighs as he drags a hand over his face “I mean, what’s you long term plan here? You’ll have to find a solution for _all of this_ at some point. Where are you gonna put him once he’s perfectly fine again, huh? You gonna build him a nice backyard and let him out every couple of hours? Maybe walk him on a leash? I just wanna know where you think any of this is heading!”

** _Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump Thump thump._ **

Sato has been watching their conversation like a tennis match, but there’s no more aggression. He keeps on nudging Tony’s hand and knee to get some more head scratches, and he often casts slightly suspicious glances at Rhodey, but there’s some curiosity mixed in now, as well. When they both fall silent for a moment, the wolf lifts his head and leans forward, sniffing at Rhodey’s knee, then his thigh, slowly making his way up to the man’s chest.

“Uh, what the hell--”

“Just- Stay still. I promise he’s not trying to eat you, just smelling you.”

“Smelling--”

“Yeah, I know, it’s super weird. But that’s how he gets to know you. Wolves rely heavily on their sense of smell, so this is a good sign. He’s basically checking you out, probably making sure you’re a cool guy. So don’t worry, just let him do his thing.”

Rhodey surely has a lot to say about that plan of action, but Sato has now reached his face and is greedily inhaling the air. Tony chuckles at his friend’s comically scared face and watches those two get a little closer. Soon enough, Sato seems happy with what he’s found out, and he leans back again, dropping his big head in the engineer’s lap again.

“See? Perfectly fine!”

Rhodey shudders a little, but he does cock his head and takes a closer look. He’s a curious man, too, after all, and doesn’t easily back away from challenging situations - Which is the reason they’ve lasted this long, because Tony _is_ a challenging situation at the best of days. A few moments later, Rhodey lifts his head again and looks at his friend.

“You... You’re not scared?”

“Of him? Nah, not anymore. Gotta be honest: At the beginning, I almost pissed myself, especially when he first landed in here. But, uh, I dunno. Once you get to know him, he’s a really nice- Wolf. And he hasn’t hurt me so far, hasn’t even tried, I mean, look at him!”

Sato is actually being a poster-wolf for good behavior right now: Lying on the floor, head in Tony’s lap, wagging his tail as he gets his ears scratched. His golden-brown eyes are almost sparkling when Tony moves his hand to one of his favorite spots.

** _Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump Thump thump._ **

“Look”, Tony sighs and rubs his free hand over his tired face, “I know- I know all of this looks really bad. It _is _really bad, I’ll admit that. But I can’t-- I can’t just let anyone take him, okay? He- He was already- Oh, fuck it, look, just look, will you? And then tell me it’d be okay to sell him to the highest bidder?”

He fumbles around until he grabs onto one of his tablets, and then pulls up JARVIS’s list of injuries, along with some pretty graphic pictures. He doesn’t even want to look at those himself, so he quickly pushes it into Rhodey hesitating hands, and then gestures for his friend to go ahead. The next few minutes he watches him scroll through it all, as his face grows darker and darker with each passing image. Finally, Rhodey lets out a deep breath and pushes the tablet back to Tony, who sets it down onto the (still kinda dirty and bloody) floor.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow. Remember how I said he was pretty much dead? That wasn’t an exaggeration! He _was _almost dead, and I saved his fucking life!”

“Okay, I get that you--”

“You see those marks? On his legs?”, Tony mutters as he grabs the tablet again and pulls up the right image, “according to JARVIS, those come from fucking _chains_. So, he’s been _chained down_, for god knows how long! You can see each of his ribs, and his spine- He almost bit off my leg when I fed him earlier. Not like that, okay, _that_ was an exaggeration, but he did go a little crazy, because he was so hungry!”

His fingers tremble ever so slightly as he turns back to the wolf and looks him in the eye. Sato stares back at him with- Fear? Worry? Definitely distressed, and the engineer doesn’t like that at all. He doesn’t want to worry the wolf anymore, but fuck, it’s a shitty situation, and he can’t help but feel at least a little agitated.

“Ever thought about how maybe there was a reason for that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, maybe there’s a reason he needed to be chained down, you know? Maybe he _is _dangerous, after all, and someone--”

“No one”, Tony growls as he leans forward and narrows his eyes, “absolutely _no one_ deserves to be chained down and tortured like that! You hear me? No. One. If he was that dangerous, they should’ve shot him. But not- Not something like this.”

“Tony...”, and there it is, there it fucking is, that one thing he was so afraid of-

The moment that it kinda clicks, and Rhodey understands why this is cutting so close to his core. Because- Because chains and torture and all of that shit stirs something deep inside of him, something he keeps locked away most of the time, but right now, it shines through a crack in his well worn armor.

“Don’t. Just- Fucking don’t, okay? I can’t- I don’t need that- I don’t _want _any pity, alright? So just- Don’t.”

“Look, I get it.”

“Do you, now?”

“In a way, at least. You suffered. That wolf apparently suffered, too. But that’s not the same, Tony. It’s a- an animal. It doesn’t understand the way you do, and we don’t even know what really happened! So don’t make any decisions based on that, alright?”

“Easy for you to see”, the engineer mutters, and then he sighs deeply.

Sato is watching him carefully, woofing and crawling just a little closer. And Tony thinks that, yeah, he really isn’t scared anymore, not at all. Just a few days ago he was terrified, jumping at every move the wolf made. Took a while, but now they’re just fine. And it’s easy for Rhodey to say - He wasn’t there. He didn’t patch Sato up and research everything about wolves and wonder about energy spikes and didn’t share his pizza with him and and and and and...

“Look, we can work on this, right? We can think about it, and I can ask around, maybe call a few people--”

“Do NOT tell _anyone _about him!”, Tony hisses, “do you really think they’ll wait even for a second before they break down my front door?”

Rhodey sighs again, and Tony is getting pissed. Doesn’t he understand? This is not something they can actually talk about with anyone, let alone people they don’t know all that well. With a frustrated huff, he shakes his head and allows Sato to take his hand into his snout again, nibbling on his fingers and covering them in his slobber.

“So, what? You just gonna keep him in here? He’s not a guinea pig, you can’t keep him inside forever! You got any plan beyond getting through the next few days?”

And that’s just the thing, isn’t it? Because there really is no plan beyond what happens in the lab every single day. It’s been an adventure so far, and with all the shit that’s been going down, he’s mostly too tired to sit down and _think about the future_. So- He’s got nothing, and the shrug of his shoulders hopefully gets that message across. Rhodey sighs again and drops his head in his hands. Yeah, Tony knows that feeling pretty well.

“Okay. I don’t think we’re gonna find a solution right now. How about we order some food and take a moment to breathe? And then we can talk again.”

“Sure, that sounds like a plan. You can crash here, too. No use in driving back home.”

“Alright. Then I’m gonna go upstairs and order. You gonna stay here, or...?”

“Nah, I’m gonna go and take a shower. Meet you in the living room in about twenty minutes?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

With that, they both get up. Tony pets Sato’s head a few more times and reassures him that he’ll be back in no time (which Rhodey scoffs at, but what does he know, anyway), and then both men leave the lab and walk up the stairs.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again :)
> 
> More Tony and Rhodey time, which is always fun! And of course, the boys all grow a little closer as well ;)  
I just finished Chapter 16, so I'm still pretty far ahead of schedule, and I should be able to keep this pace up for a few more days (fingers crossed!)
> 
> Again, thanks to all the people who left kudos and/or comments - You make my day! <3
> 
> As always, I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter! Please let know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

Once again, Tony finds himself in the shower. And once again, he takes a deep breath and wonders how the fuck this is his life. Seriously, it’d be really fucking awesome if someone could provide him with a chart detailing just how much bad karma he needs to pay for in order to be left alone already! Sighing, he grabs the damn rose-scented shampoo and doesn’t think too much about all those declined calls from Pepper. She’s probably already disappointed again, and wow, he really does have a way to fuck things up!

Under different circumstances, this would the moment where he gives up and starts to crack open the bottles. Getting shit faced is a better alternative than going out and facing his problems, at least for a coward like him. Tony can put on a metal suit and fly into the stratosphere, no problem, hell, he even gets off on shit like that! But confront him with something like this... All those feelings and relationships, the things that can hurt way worse than a bullet wound? Yeah, he’s gonna turn around and get the hell out of there, no question about it! Problem is, he can’t really do that anymore. Partly because he has found people who actually stick around even when he behaves like a complete asshole, and partly because sometimes, running away makes things only worse. Tony is a selfish creature at heart, but there are people he just- He doesn’t want to see Pepper hurt, because that somehow feels worse than actually saying stuff like _I’m scared of losing you_, _I’m scared I’m going to hurt you_, _I’m scared I’m not good enough for you_. With a shake of his head, he steps out of the shower and starts to dry off. Enough with all of that shit, there’s really no time for any of that! He’s got a friend out in his living room, and a nervous giant wolf down in his lab, so he should be busy for the next few days, years, or reincarnations (talking about karma and all of that).

“Is our dinner ready, honey?”, he calls as he walks into the living room, and cringes, because Rhodey is looking at the ruined carpet with raised eyebrows, “uh, yeah, that- That happened. Sato made a pretty bad mess down there, and then things got a little hectic, and yeah, JARVIS? Found any of those awesome mafia cleaning teams, yet?”

_I have found a rather--_

“No, I- I don’t wanna know”, Rhodey sighs as he waves his hand dismissively, “just- Pizza’s on the way. JARVIS told me to maybe order a few more, so- Are you expecting any more guests I should know of?”

“Hm? Oh, no, don’t worry! It’s gonna be just the two of us, romantic dinner under the fluorescent lights of the lab. But Sato really likes pizza, so he’ll get a few. As a treat, since he didn’t kill you, earlier.”

“Uh-huh. And you found that out how exactly?”

“Ah, good times! I’ll show you the footage later, it’s kinda cute, you’ll see.”

“I doubt that. A lot.”

“Yeah, and I don’t give a shit. You’re gonna watch that footage, and you’re gonna find it cute.”

“We’ll see. Hey, uh, is Pepper still...?”

“Still gone. Enjoying that vacation, last I heard. Sounded pretty relaxed. And happy. It’s doing her some good, I think.”

“And you? How’re you--”

“Awesome, just awesome! Never been better, except for when she was still here and happy to be with me. But other than that, I can’t complain.”

“Shit, man, I’m sorry. I know you really--”

“Yup, I know and appreciate it, so just keep that pretty mouth of yours shut, and we’ll forget you ever brought it up. JARVIS, how long till our food arrives?”

_About five more minutes, sir._

“Time really flies, doesn’t it? So, anything else you wanted to talk about while we’re at it? Better get it out of the way before we go downstairs again. Wolfie doesn’t like stress all that much, and I’m good at shitting people, but it turns out wolves are a little harder to fool, so... Anything else you wanna share with the class?”

“You really love her, don’t you?”

“Oh, fuck you, too”, the engineer mutters and turns around, walking towards the kitchen.

The fridge is mostly stocked with alcohol, and he’s glad about that right now. Pulling out a bottle of beer he cracks it open and downs half of it in one go. He’s awesome at drinking by now, and very efficient at his craft. Thoughts of Pepper only fuel his enthusiasm (read: desperation), and so the second half is gone even faster. Yeah, it’s gonna be a great night.

“So, I’m right, aren’t I?”, Rhodey asks lowly from the living room, the asshole who can never quit, “you love her. And you never told me what happened, exactly.”

“Nothing in particular. Just... Me being my wonderful self. Was enough to make her run away to the other end of the world.”

“I thought it was a mutual agreement.”

“Not like I had much of choice!”, he growls as he slams the empty bottle down on the counter, “it was either let her go, or make her hate me forever! And yeah, we agreed on it, because it was driving me insane, too. But that was me, all of it, because apparently I was just supposed to _be myself_ \- And look where that got me!”

Again, he’s saying way too much, and he can’t get himself to stop. And Rhodey looks at him with sad, concerned eyes, and fuck, he doesn’t need of that! That- That fucking pity! He hates it with a passion, he can’t even look at his friend right now, so he turns away, and is really fucking grateful when the doorbell rings.

“Food’s here. You wanna get that? I’m gonna go down to the lab, make sure Sato doesn’t have another emotional breakdown when you come back in.”

“So we’re eating in the lab.”

“... The wolf likes pizza, Rhodey. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t share with him?”

Sato is stressing out when Tony steps through the lab doors again. The engineer curses, because the wolf has crawled throughout the lab, almost reaching the door by now. He’s whining and whimpering as he eagerly pushes himself into Tony’s open arms, nudging his snout against his chest, licking his neck and cheeks and nose, pretty much any piece of skin he can reach.

“Ugh, you’re disgusting! What’s wrong with you, huh? What’s... Oh, yeah, never mind. I get it, I get it.”

Because he’s shaking with anger and frustration and sadness, and the wolf whines as it pushes closer, nuzzling his cold, wet nose against his neck, because he feels all of that, and it stresses him out. The engineer sighs as he pushes his hands into the warm fur, and then he thinks _fuck it_, and leans forward, wrapping his arms around he wolf’s neck (as far as he can reach, at least) and presses his forehead against Sato’s.

The wolf freezes at that, shudders, but doesn’t move away even an inch. Tony pushes away the voice in his head that tells him that he’s getting a little too careless, a little to close, a little too comfortable (and that voice sounds a lot like Rhodey, so fuck that voice especially hard) and cuddles a little closer to his wolf and breathes in his (by now) familiar scent. Yeah, he feels like shit. Like someone ripped his heart out and put it through a shredder, then taped it back together with some duct tape and called it a day. It’s a pretty awful feeling, but this- This helps. The warmth, the slow, yet powerful heartbeat, Sato’s low rumbling, and the way he gently nips at his clothes. Tony was always a tactile kind if guy, only problem being that there weren’t all that many people he could cuddle up to. And then, he’s pretty shitty at expressing his feeling in any way, too. No way in hell he’d ever say things like... Things that make people understand how much he actually cares. He’s just gotta show it, in his own, crude, weird ways, and hope that people pick up on it. Most don’t, and so they leave, and those who do- Well, there’s not all that many of those left. But it’s easier right now. Because this is not another person, not someone who asks a lot of questions, or demands things he’s far from ready to give. This is a giant wolf (and boy, does that sound weird still!), who has no clue what’s even going on, but feels him stressing out and wants to try and make him feel better. Because he cares, in his own, wolfy ways, and damn if that’s not kinda heartwarming.

“Hey there, buddy. ‘M sorry about all of that, okay? I know it’s stressing you out, all of this shit- Hey, okay, calm down, okay, c’mon, come with me, alright?”, he murmurs, and then pulls back and starts to guide Sato back into the lab.

The wolf hobbles after him, and then lies down on the floor with a content sigh again. The engineer makes sure none of the stitches have ripped, and that shoulder and leg are still wrapped up tightly before taking a seat beside the animal.

“We’ll have to change those dressings again pretty soon”, he muses as his hand automatically finds its way into the warm fur again, “and I think we’ll try and get that pelt of yours clean, at least a little bit. Then you won’t look quite so murderous anymore. You like the sound of that?”

He gets a low woof as a response, and then those ears twitch towards the doors. Just a few moments later, Rhodey comes down the stairs, balancing pizza cartons and a few bottles of beer in both hands. The wolf sniffs the air, but doesn’t growl anymore, even when the other man walks close to them, setting it all down on the floor, before casting a careful glance at the attentive wolf.

“Can I sit down? Or you gonna bite my ass, then?”

“Think we’re good for now”, Tony answers for Sato and reaches over to grab one of the cartons, “he’s a pretty nice boy, if you know how to handle him. And no, he won’t bite you. ‘Cause I’ve got something way better than your ass.”

With that, he grabs a slice of pepperoni pizza, and Sato’s head immediately whips around, pupils dilated and nose twitching. The slice is gone before Rhodey has a chance to yell any protests, and the engineer laughs at his friend’s shocked face.

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite. Or he hasn’t, yet. I’ve already fed him- What? Five whole pizzas? And I still got all my fingers, see?”, he adds while wiggling his fingers in front of his friend’s face.

Rhodey bats his hand away and scoffs.

“Awesome. And you’re sure that’s the best way to feed him? I doubt pizza is the right--”

“Ugh, don’t be such a party pooper! Not like that’s the only thing he got. JARVIS ordered high quality meat, it’s over there, in the freezer. He loves that shit, honestly, and he gets exactly what he needs. Pizza is a treat, though. For special occasions. Like now”, he adds and offers the wolf another slice.

** _Thump Thump Thump Thump_ ** _. _ ** _Thump Thump_ ** _. _ ** _Thump thump thump._ **

“See? He loves it!”

Rhodey watches with a fascinated, yet worried expression as Sato nudges Tony’s chest and whines until he gets another piece, which is gone within seconds. The engineer can’t help but feel a little proud of himself. Yeah, he is kinda turning into a true wolf whisperer. He’s just that awesome.

“Wanna try?”

“Uh, no, sorry. I like my hands firmly attached to my body.”

“C’mon, you just say me do it! He won’t bite off your hand, not even a finger!”

“_Not even a_\--”

“I know you wanna try it, too”, Tony interrupts as he waggles his eyebrows in a way he just _knows_ Rhodey hates, “so get it over with already!”

The Colonel sighs the sigh of someone who’s been through a lot of hardships already (and let’s face it, he has, most of those courtesy of Tony himself), but he accepts his fate and reaches over to grab another slice of pizza. Swallowing, he turns towards Sato, who’s already watching him intently with shining, golden eyes.

“Uh... Okay. And how do--”

“Just hold it in front of his snout. He’ll do the rest.”

The wolf takes his time, though, carefully sniffing into Rhodey’s direction and watching him warily. But soon enough, hunger wins out, and the slice is gone in the blink of an eye - So fast that Rhodey has barely any time to panic.

“Good wolfie!”, Tony grins and ruffles the wolf’s warm fur, “and good Rhodey, too!”

“... Thanks. I’ll never do that again.”

Rhodey ends up feeding Sato almost two whole pizzas, and the wolf soon gets over any remaining skepticism and happily wags his tail whenever his new friend offers him another treat. The Colonel keeps on flinching, but once the wolf is busy chewing on his current slice, he even reaches over to gently touch the fur, carding a hand through it. Tony coos and takes a few pictures. Rhodey looks pissed in every single one.

With the food gone, Rhodey asks him if Sato needs anything to drink, and Tony panics for a good ten minutes, because fuck, he totally forgot about that! So he spends another five minutes running through the lab, desperately filling bucket after bucket with water, then carrying them back to the confused animal. Sato takes a few moments, but then he empties five full buckets, and Tony feels like a complete failure. Fuck, how the hell did he manage to forget about getting his wolf _water_?!? He’s the worst wolf keeper there is in the whole wide world, simple as that! Rhodey only rolls his eyes at his panic and forces him to sit back down on the dirty floor.

“Forget about it, he’s fine. See?”

And yeah, he kinda is. Licking his lips and looking at Tony with interest, probably wondering why he isn’t getting petted right this second. Demanding little shit. Already spoiled, after less than a week. Yeah, Tony’s a horrible... Whatever. Wolf sitter. If that’s a thing. Ah, it is now, if he says so.

“I’m getting kinda tired, anyway. Think I’m gonna head upstairs soon, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, uh. I was kinda thinking we could stay here?”

“Here?”

“Yeah.”

“As in, your lab?”

“Uh-huh.”

“... Why?”

And that’s the question, isn’t it? Because Tony’s got a perfectly comfortable bed waiting for him upstairs, so why would he want to stay down here? Scratching his chin, he throws a glance down at the wolf, who’s looking right back, and wagging his tail again.

** _Thump Thump. Thump thump thump. Thump Thump_ ** _. _ ** _Thump Thump_ ** _._

“I, uh- I kinda don’t wanna leave him alone. I’ve been sleeping in here with him for the last few days. And I’ve got a feeling he wouldn’t take it too well if I just... Left him here. All by himself.”

His looks at his friend with false cheer and claps his hands together.

“So, how about an awesome slumber party, huh? We’ll bring down a mattress, get some marshmallows and roast them with my welder, tell each other ghost stories - It’ll be awesome!”

Rhodey only sighs, because again, he’s used to shit like this, and he knows that there’s no arguing with Tony whenever he gets like this. So he only rolls his eyes and gets up, trying (and failing) to brush some dirt from his pants as he straightens up.

“Two mattresses. And you’re gonna carry one of them.”

“Aw, you’re no fun!”

Tony’s mattresses are awesome - Not too hard, not too soft, and whenever he tumbles into his bed after a few sleepless days, it feels like sinking into a cloud made of pure happiness. That’s the awesome part. Problem is: Since they’re so squishy and soft, they’re hell to move down the stairs. Rhodey curses his very existence and swears revenge, but judging by how much both of them are sweating already, he doubts he has much to fear in the foreseeable future. Grunting and muttering curses in all the languages he speaks, Tony stumbles down the last flight of stairs and dumps the mattress onto a patch of floor that’s... Well, clean is a big word, let’s settle for _less dirty_. Someone really needs to clean this mess up, sooner rather than later. And it sure as hell won’t be him! Didn’t JARVIS say something about--

“God, I hate you!”, Rhodey groans as he throws his mattress down next to his, and then collapses onto it a second later, “you owe me for this!”

“Hey, I already paid for dinner!”

“Yeah, and I almost had several heart attacks in the last five hours. Dinner, your treat! And something fancy, too. I wanna be pampered.”

Tony grumbles, but he does get up to gather some pillows and blankets, and then he grabs a shirt and sweat pants for Rhodey as well, and carries it all down into the lab. Sato is busy sniffing the mattresses (and Rhodey’s feet, which elicts a startled yelp from the man), but he lifts his head and yips happily when Tony walks back in. Which is... Nice. Seems like the wolf knows him by now, and reacts with happiness and excitement whenever he comes back. Yeah, that’s nice.

The engineer stops for a few seconds to scratch under Sato’s chin and accepts getting his face licked, before gently pushing the animal away and crawling into his makeshift bed. Rhodey is getting changed, and Tony takes a moment to get comfortable.

“Lights, J.”

The lights get turned off immediately, but there’s enough machinery to keep the room from getting too dark. After a few moments, they all settle down, and their calm breathing fills the room. It’s a sound Tony has come to appreciate, because it means- Well, it means that he’s not alone. It’s good, a really good feeling. Makes him feel... Safe.

“Hey, Rhodey?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks. For, you know, staying. Not running away screaming. And not calling- I dunno. Someone who’d take him away.”

There’s a sigh from the other mattress, and then he can hear the blankets shift as Rhodey turns onto his side to face him.

“Yeah, but you know it can’t stay like this, either, right? This is no way to live, for either of you. That wolf’s gonna be alright again, at some point, and by then you should have a plan what to do with him. I’m gonna give you guys the benefit of the doubt and not call anyone else, but you gotta promise me to find a solution for all of this!”

“Already working on it, honey.”

“I know. Just- You know you can count on me. If you need help, I’ll help. Even if it means smuggling him out of the country, somehow. But things can’t stay like that much longer.”

“Yeah, I know, I _know_”, Tony groans as he rubs a hand over his face, “I get it, okay? Working on a few ideas already, but it’s not that easy. Gimme a little more time, alright? And just- We’ll just wait and see. For a few more days. I’m sure something will come up by then.”

There’s some snuffling, and then Tony yelps when Sato’s cold nose presses against his naked shoulder. The wolf shuffles closer until he can rest his big head on the mattress, gently licking Tony’s hand.

** _Thump Thump Thump. Thump thump_ ** _. _ ** _Thump Thump_ ** _._

“You’re a weird one, you know that? And kinda spoiled already, too!”

Doesn’t mean he won’t reach out and pet the wolf, anyway. Let him be spoiled, then. The way it looks, life hasn’t been to kind to him lately. So why not give him some more love than strictly necessary?

“And about Pepper--”

“I thought we were done with that topic.”

“_You _were. But don’t worry, I get it. You don’t wanna talk. But maybe that’s the underlying problem here. Did you ever tell her how much she actually means to you? What scares you about all of this? And I know you have your own way of “saying” things, and I know that Pepper is good at reading between the lines, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to actually _say _it. Communication is key, and all of that.”

Tony hums at that, because he’s kinda tired, and not really in the mood to respond to any of that. Rhodey probably doesn’t expect an answer at this point anyway, so he lets out a yawn and allows his eyes to fall closed. Sato is rumbling contentedly, resting his head right next to Tony’s side, his warm breath puffing against his ribs, and he feels the tension draining away...

Some undefined amount of time later, Tony jerks awake and sits straight up. His heart is racing, but not in that panicked, fearful kinda way, but the excited kind. Sato lets out a surprised yip when the engineer scrambles out of bed and over to Rhodey’s mattress, shaking the man awake.

“Wha- What’s going on?”

“Communication! Of _course_!”, Tony laughs as he grabs his friend’s shoulders, pulls him up and shakes him slightly, “you’re a motherfucking genius, babe!”

And then he plants a kiss to Rhodey’s open mouth, before letting go (Rhodey falling back onto the mattress with a groan) and jumping to his feet. His brain feels like it’s on fire, because there’s this idea, this theory, and that feeling of being very close to figuring something out, and he lives for that shit!

“JARVIS, get everything ready! Pull up all the data we’ve collected so far, and prepare for a new set of experiments! We’ve got some testing to do! Right, wolfie? You ready to help me get some answers?”

Sato woofs lowly, confused and still a little sleepy, but happy enough to let Tony pet his head while JARVIS gets all the data ready. By now, Rhodey is sitting up as well, dragging a over his head.

“What the hell is going on, exactly?”

“Communication”, Tony replies as he turns around with a triumphant grin, “you’re right: That’s everything. Literally _everything_ in our daily lives. We’re constantly communicating, wether we’re aware of it or not. And we rely on others to just _understand_.”

“... I don’t get it.”

“And I didn’t, either. But, here’s the thing: What if someone was communicating in a different way? And we weren’t able to understand, because we’d never seen anything like it before? What would we do, then?”

His best friend only blinks tiredly at him, but it doesn’t matter. Still grinning, he turns back to Sato and leans forward to look deeply into the wolf’s golden-brown eyes.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure by now. You’ve been trying to tell me something, right? Well, I’m sorry it took me so long, but I can promise you: I’m gonna figure it out now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you spot any typos, lemme know, I'm kinda tired and rushing through the final edit, so just tell me if I've overlooked anything!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Little early, since I'm just one my way out ^^
> 
> More bonding time, more questions, but also some answers!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, tell me what you think!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

“Do you see that fucking awesome shit?!?”

Rhodey blinks up tiredly at him, and Tony can’t help but groan. Here he is, making groundbreaking discoveries no human has ever laid eyes on, and his best friend can’t even be bothered to fake the least bit of enthusiams! Ugh, it’s hard being this underappreciated! And it’s kinda messing with his flow, so he only huffs and grabs his tablet again, pulling up the right grahs.

“Here! Look at that! Isn’t it amazing?”

“Uh...”

“Oh, fuck you, Rhodey!”

“Hey, I’m not the one who wanted to get up after four hours of sleep to start experimenting!”, the Colonel grumbles as he pushes himself up into a sitting position, “I was quite happy staying asleep, but no, our resident genius--”

“But don’t you _see_? It all adds up, now! Well, partly, at least. But that’s more than we had just a few hours ago! And I get it, now, I finally _get it_!”

Rhodey groans as he lets himself fall back and covers his face with both hands.

“And what exactly do you get now? Please, enlighten me! And then lemme go back to sleep...”

The engineer preens and his proud grin only grows wider as he prances towards Rhodey’s mattress, falling down beside his friend and snuggling close, despite the muffled protests.

“I’m _so _glad you asked, buttercup! Let me explain, then. Basically, I have now found an explanation for some of those spikes we got over the last few days. See, like here, and then here, and here again...”, he scrolls through some of the graphs, even though Rhodey doesn’t bother looking at the screen, the ungrateful asshole, “and I just couldn’t figure out _why_ we got them at these precise moments. Because nothing seemed to line up! Until now!”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m so glad you find this as fascinating as I do. Because see, here’s the thing: It’s wasn’t _just _an unconscious reaction to pain, or touch, or whatever else. That’d be too simple, in most cases, at least. But when you look here”, and now he pulls up the video footage of himself startling awake after Sato nudges him a couple of times, “we’ve got a spike. A pretty impressive one, in relation to the rest. And it tapers off the moment I react, the moment I _start to interact_. And that’s the defining factor! The moment I start to interact!”

“So, he just wants attention?”

“Don’t make it sound so easy!”, Tony scoffs as he flicks through the data again, “it’s a lot more complex than that, because there are still quite a few responses I haven’t figured out yet. But in a way you’re right, I guess. I actually think that those spikes might be him calling out to me. _Trying to communicate_. In his own way. And he’s pretty efficient at it, too, considering how precise those spikes are, and how precise they respond to me, and to the interaction. Not his fault I didn’t get it until now, right, buddy?”

The big wolf wags his tail when he’s being addressed again, and lets out a happy rumble when Tony reaches over to card a hand through his fur. Sato whines and pushes closer, nose pushing against the arc reactor glowing through his shirt, nipping at his hand when he brushes it over his snout. Rhodey lets out a shocked sound and scrambles upright, but the engineer only grins and pulls his hand free without much difficulty.

“Don’t worry, it’s alright. See? All fingers stay attached!”

“You’re crazy. You know that, right?”

“Maybe, but I’m a damn genius, too, and I figured all of this out on my own, so you better start clapping now, or I’m gonna be really disappointed!”

Rhodey raises his eyebrows, but he does clap his hands - Slowly, sarcastically, but that’s apparently all he’s gonna get right now. Whatever. He’s got a huge wolf all too happy to indulge his constant need for attention, so he sticks out his tongue and then allows the wolf to lick his face, snuffling and pushing his big head into his lap.

“Yeah, you get me, right? You understand how awesome I am, don’t you? Yes, you do!”

“Don’t use the wolf to inflate your already giant ego even more.”

“Fuck you, he’s the only one who appreciates me here!”

“... He’s a wolf. He doesn’t know any better.”

“Hey, how about-- Whoa, watch it!”, Tony gasps when Sato grumbles and pushes away, snapping in Rhodey’s general direction.

Both men yelp and jump, but there’s no actual contact. The wolf only huffs an irritated breath and then lies back down, pushing his wet nose into Tony’s stomach. The engineer stares down at the heavy head in his lap, a little lost of words.

“Uhm, okay. Maybe we should stop assuming he doesn’t know anything, and stop insulting me as well”, he offers wit a nervous laugh after a couple of seconds, “and maybe you could not snap at my best friend? We don’t do shit like that around here!”

Sato rumbles and nudges his hand, and Tony rolls his eyes and scratches behind his ears.

“You’re just gonna- Continue like this?”, Rhodey mutters as he shakes off the last of his shock and sits up straight again, “and you’re _rewarding him_?”

“What? No, he wasn’t trying to bite you!”

“How’d you know, huh?”

“Because I think if that’s what he wanted, you’d be missing an arm right about now”, he explains with a shrug, “he was just telling you to back off. That was a snap, not a bite. Completely different thing.”

He can feel his friend watching him with an incredulous expression, and he’s once again glad he spent so much time watching BBC documentaries. Sure, that just now made him jump, too, but he knows there was no aggression behind it. Like he said: If the goal was to bite, they’d be busy trying to re-attach one of Rhodey’s arms. And isn’t that a wonderful mental image!

“So, he’s, what? Talking to you? With that- Energy thing?”

“Seems that way. Otherwise those reading wouldn’t decrease the moment I start to interact with him. And, uh, you see that here?”, he asks as he shows Rhodey the screen again, “that, right there? I think he was trying to actually _wake me up_. Because he felt me stressing out, and he didn’t try to touch me just yet, but those spikes ebbed off once I looked at him. Isn’t that cool?”

Rhodey is busy watching the screen, and Tony realizes that he’s cringing at those images, so he pulls the tablet back quickly. Yeah, not a pretty sight, he gets it. But still - It’s an awesome discovery! It means that Sato is (and has been) communicating with him the whole time, and that’s big, because it opens up a whole lot of new questions and possibilities. Tony can’t wait to start testing, because now he finally--

_Sir, your delivery has arrived._

“Uh, what?”

_If you remember, I ordered more supplies yesterday, including bandages and antibiotic cream. I have also taken the liberty of ordering breakfast for you and Colonel Rhodes, since it has been almost ten hours since you last ate._

“But we were just going to--”

“Nope, you heard the AI!”, Rhodey grins as he gets up to his feet, “time for breakfast! I’m gonna go get showered and dressed, and then we’ll eat. No science with an empty stomach!”

“Whatever”, Tony grumbles as he puts his tablet down and brushes a hand through his hair, “we’ll have more than enough time for some tests later on, right, Sato?”

The wolf woofs and pushes against his chest playfully, until the engineer is flat on his back. There’s a moment of panic, because wow, he’s really big, and right now he’s looming over his, snout open and showing off his impressive teeth. But then the moment is gone, and the wolf starts licking his face and neck and hands again, covering him in slobber, and maybe Tony will have to ask Rhodey to hurry up in the bathroom, because he needs a shower, too.

“Ugh, you’re disgusting, you really are. JARVIS, gimme a wolfie-update while we’re at it!”

_Certainly, sir. All injuries are still healing well. There are no signs of infection so far. The breaks appear to be healing well, though still at a rather elevated rate. If it continues that way, it should be able to walk again in just under three weeks._

“Wow. You’re full of surprises, huh? We’ll test that, too. JARVIS, we’re gonna draw some blood, and then you’re gonna analyze the shit out of it, you hear me? Uhm, if I’ve got a needle around here, that is.”

_I doubt any regular needle would be big enough for its size. If you’d like, I could order another set of supplies right away._

“Yeah, you do that. And make that super fast delivery, will you? We’ll just have to wait a little longer, then. And tell Rhodey to move his ass and bring me some breakfast. I’m hungry.”

Sato whines and looks at him with wide pleading eyes.

“Yeah, I know, you’re hungry, too. No surprise there, at least.”

Turns out that Rhodey isn’t immune to puppy eyes. Well, that’s something Tony has known for many years (and part of the reason why he perfected his own puppy eyes to a deadly weapon), but now he learns that Sato is capable of turning his best friend into goo as well. In a matter of minutes, the wolf has charmed his way into the man’s heart and earned himself a whole batch of still warm, syrupy pancakes. Tony also learns that Sato really like pancakes, and that Rhodey may scoff and shake his head, but he also shares his croissant with the wolf without a word of protest. Tony doesn’t mention it, but he can’t help but grin. Mostly, because he thinks it’s absolutely adorable, but partly because he hopes that stuff like this will make it easier to convince Rhodey to not call _anyone _in on this whole shit show. He may be Tony Fucking Stark, but even he can’t hold off the military, should they come knocking at his door. So he hopes it doesn’t come to that in the first place. And right now, it seems like Rhodey is having a hard time seeing Sato as anything but an adorable wolf, nudging his hand, demanding more pancakes.

“Did you think about what I said last night?”

“Uh, of course I did. If you remember, I spent the last four hours testing--”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t talking about the wolf, Tony. I was talking about Pepper. And how you should think about actually _telling _her how you feel. And not just that you love here, because you do, c’mon, Tony, you can’t fool me! I’ve seen the way you look at her. You love her, and she needs to hear you say it, and not just once.”

“Well, I actually--”

“Because you should also tell her what scares you. About all those issues of yours, because we all know you’ve got them, but there’s no chance of you guys it ever working all of this out if you don’t open up just a little bit!”

“You make it sound pretty easy.”

“I know it isn’t, Tones”, Rhodey adds with a sigh as he nudges his knee, “but there are things worth fighting for, you hear me? Or do you really wanna watch her walk away because you were too much of coward to open that big mouth of yours?”

“Ouch.”

That’s pretty much all he can say to that. Rhodey always had a way to press where it really fucking hurts, and he was also never afraid to call him out on his bullshit. And Tony needs that, he really does, but that surely doesn’t mean he can always appreciate it right away, or that he doesn’t cringe away from those words. He’s right, of course, Rhodey usually is when it comes to that kinda stuff. But Tony wouldn’t be Tony if he flat out agreed and followed that piece of sound advice.

“Wow, calm down, Dr. Phil! Jeez, I didn’t know you’d started working as a couple’s counsellor.”

“Talk as much shit as you want, we both know I’m right.”

“And we both know that I’ll never agree to a statement like that.”

“So things are just gonna stay the same, and you’ll be alone and miserable for the rest of your life?”

Tony stays quiet, and Rhodey is kind enough to drop the subject. They finish their breakfast in silence, safe for Sato’s insistent whining whenever he doesn’t get petted enough, and this time it’s Rhodey who reaches over and cards a slightly trembling hand through his pelt. The wolf blinks a little confusedly, but doesn’t back away and ends up wagging his tail just as enthusiastically as whenever Tony pets him (which, okay, kinda sucks).

** _Thump Thump Thump. Thump thump thump thump_ ** _. _ ** _Thump Thump_ ** _._

“You really spoiled that wolf.”

“As if you’d ever expect anything less from me!”

“So, you any closer to figuring out a solution?”

“Not really, no. Like, what should I even try to figure out?”

“Maybe where to put him once he’s alright again?”

The engineer sighs at that and shrugs. Now that JARVIS gave him another estimation, he knows that he’s kinda running out of time. Three more weeks, and Sato should be well enough to walk, and then it won’t be too long until the huge wolf will be running around again. Which won’t be happening in his lab, thank you very much, because he loves his lab, and things are expensive (like that’s ever gonna be a problem) and hard to replace when they get inevitably broken by an overexcited wolf jumping around. So, he’s got about three weeks. And then there’ll be hell to pay.

“Are you gonna tell Pepper about him?”

“Are you fucking insane? How’d you think that conversation would go, huh? No, thank you, I like my balls firmly attached to my body!”

“So... What’s the plan, then?”

“Well, Pepper hardly ever comes down to the lab. JARVIS can warn me whenever she gets too close, and then I’ll just- Hurry upstairs. And think of a good excuse. Something science-y. And I could add a blackout mode, you know, figure out a way to make those glass walls--”

“Are you even listening to yourself, Tones?”, Rhodey interrupts softly, “because that sounds like you wanna spend the foreseeable future hiding a giant wolf from your parnter, _in the very same house you two will live in_. Doesn’t that sound a tiny bit problematic to you?”

“Uh... Yeah, of course. But that’s kinda my baseline, you know? Tiny bit problematic?”

“But this- _This _is a new level, even for you! And that means you’re actually thinking about keeping that wolf here for longer than just a few more weeks! How long do you plan on keeping him here?”

Sato is watching them again, eyes switching to whoever is talking, and then looking back again. His tail is no longer wagging, but he’s thankfully not that stressed out yet. When Tony takes a little longer to respond, the wolf leans over and nudges his hand with his cold, wet nose. The engineer starts petting without thinking too much about it, and the wolf rumbles happily.

“I... I dunno. I mean, that kinda brings us back to one of the core questions: Where would we even put him? It’s not like I can just open the front door and tell him to run free! He wouldn’t even _fit_ through that door, to begin with.”

He leaves out the part about how he also can’t just send Sato away without being absolutely sure that he’ll be okay. Considering the state he arrived in, he has a feeling that the wolf has a way of getting into trouble. Also, the world is full of bad people, and if Sato runs into one of those, he’ll be locked away and never see the light of day again. Tony shudders at that thought and leans a little closer to the wolf, focusing on his warmth and smell and concerned whining.

“I can’t just- Kick him out. He’s doing well here, and sure, he’ll be alright eventually, but he isn’t right now. Unless you wanna tell me about a shelter specializing in severely oversized animals, I don’t really see any alternatives other than keeping him here in the meantime and hope for some other alternative to present itself.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m telling you to just let him run off into the sunset! Imagine the kind of damage he would cause...”

Yeah, he kinda forget to think about that part, which is a little worrying. Tony is good at thinking in all possible directions, and not losing sight of the bigger picture. But with this- Okay, he’ll admit it, he’s biased! Completely biased, because he can’t even imagine Sato hurting anyone in any way, try as he might. And when exactly did that happen, anyway? Where’s all that fear, the skepticism, the pessimism? It’s all just- Gone. The only thing left behind is the wolf currently resting his head in his lap, looking up to him with wide, shining, golden-brown eyes. And that strange warmth in his chest whenever the giant animal presses close. Pretty weird, all of that.

“Okay, so we basically got nothing. Which is not good, Tony, it really isn’t, but I doubt it can be helped right now. And I also doubt we’ll find a solution right this moment, so how about we let it rest for now?”

“Sounds like an amazing plan.”

“Alright. So, I think I’m gonna head out soon, still got some stuff to take care of. Promise to call me, if anything else happens, or if you need anything at all, you hear me? You know I’ll always pick up. And keep me updated as well! I wanna know what’s going on in here while I’m gone!”

“Oh my god, yes, mum!”, Tony groans as the two of them get up and he walks his best friend to the lab doors, “I’ll call and text and send cute pics, and I’ll eat my vegetables and brush my teeth and go to bed early. Cross my heart and hope to die!”

“You’re gonna hope to die if you don’t answer any of my calls, that’s for sure.”

“Duly noted. JARVIS, make sure to put Rhodey’s calls through again, unless I tell you otherwise.”

_Certainly, sir._

Rhodey doesn’t look all that convinced, but he’s apparently short on time, because he doesn’t comment any further, only waves at Tony, then at Sato (who woofs and wags his tail once again), and then he leaves. The door falls closed, and the two of them are alone again. Tony can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as he cards a hand through his messy hair. He loves that guy, he really does, and he couldn’t ask for a better friend. But he’s also been stressed beyond belief for hours on end now, good and bad, and now he’s left trembling ever so slightly.

“Shit...”, he mutters as he stumbles back towards the mattresses, “okay, okay, just a moment, we’re gonna take a moment right the fuck now.”

With that, he falls face first onto his mattress and allows his eyes to fall shut. His muscles are trembling, and he feels shaky and exhausted, because... Well, because all of that is pretty damn hard work, and he feels himself crashing. Rhodey is not a person who stresses him out, but he’s someone he needs to interact with, and it’s been _stressful_ (to say the least) to manage both him and the wolf at the same time. So now, he’s crashing.

Tony forces himself to take a few slow, deep breaths, trying to calm himself as he buries a little deeper into the sheets. In the dark, he can hear and then feel Sato shuffling closer, until his front paws bump against the mattress. Tony flinches when that cold nose presses against a strip of exposed skin on his lower back, then reaches around to wrap an around around Sato’s scruff, pulling him closer. It takes a few moments to arrange them, but in the end he’s lying on his side, with Sato’s head pressed against his chest, warm breath tickling the skin of Tony’s neck. The engineer lets out a deep sigh and cards a hand through the warm fur, and falls asleep before JARVIS has managed to turn off the lights, to the sound of the wolf’s slow, deep breath.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just finished Chapter 17, so I thought I'd post right after ^^
> 
> Warnings for a panic attack, and also a slightly awkward, rather uncomfortable conversation (not about anything triggering, though, just uncomfortable). And cuteness, I hope ;)
> 
> As always, huge thanks to everyone who's taken the time to leave kudos and/ or comment, you always make me smile! Hope you enjoy this one as well, lemme know what you think!
> 
> (also, sorry for the cliffhanger)
> 
> Love,  
Golide

Tony wakes up because he can’t breathe properly. Funny enough, it’s not an all together stressful feeling, because it’s mostly just uncomfortable, and he’s still not awake enough to immediately start panicking. With a low groan he curls onto this side, and the weight on his chest shifts, now resting on his hip and ribcage. Yeah, that’s better, and he lets out a content sigh. It’s echoed just a moment later, and then there’s some snuffling, and then he feels a gust of hot breath puff against his face. This time, he knows where he is, and what’s resting and moving right next to him, so there’s no reason to start screaming. He’s okay, they both are. And he has to admit - This feels kinda nice. He’s warm, very warm, actually, but not in a oppressive kind of way. Also, he feels rested, well rested, like he hasn’t in a long, long time. A little stuffed up and achy, like you do after a long night full of restful sleep, and it’s such a foreign feeling it takes him a while to actually understand.

Blinking a few times, he looks a little behind himself. Yup, there’s Sato, heavy head resting on the engineer’s side, hot breath puffing into his face. His eyes are still closed, and it takes Tony a few more moments to realize that the wolf even has thrown his free paw over his leg, basically resting on top of him. It’s a miracle he hasn’t been crushed by now. It’s a miracle- All of this is pretty much unbelievable. With a yawn, Tony rubs a hand over his crusty eyes and wonders how the hell he ended up in this position. There’s a part of him that’s still convinced he’s actually asleep and will wake up any moment now. And another part of him that’s dreading that exact moment, because- Well, because it’d suck. Yeah, he’s man enough to admit it (at least in his own head): He likes the wolf. He likes him, even though it’s been a spectacular pain in the ass ever since he crash landed here, even though the wolf almost shredded Rhodey, even though he has no idea how long the animal will stick around in the end. He just- He likes having him around. With another sigh, he reaches around and begins to pet Sato’s cheek, because that happens automatically by now, and sure, why the fuck not? The wolf rumbles, and this close, he can feel that sound vibrate through his entire body. It’s a weird feeling, but not an unpleasant one, either. And then Sato shifts again and slides even closer, pressing his wet nose under Tony’s chin before he settles down again.

“God, this is so fucked up. So fucking weird. You know that, right? How weird you are? Then again, this is probably just as weird for you, too. All of this, uh... Yeah, if I think about it, you’re probably weirded out, too. But you seem to take it a lot better than me. How do you do that, huh? Got any wolfy strategies you could teach me?”

That’s when Sato blinks awake, gently licking at Tony’s throat, then he yawns, and whoa- Those teeth seem to have gotten even longer in the last few hours. But a few seconds later, that huge maw closes again, and the wolf is back to blinking up at him from where he’s resting his head on Tony’s side.

“No? Nothing? That’s a shame, really, ‘cause I could do with a little less stress, believe me. But okay, keep your secrets, as long as we’re clear that it’ll be your fault if I die of a heart attack!”

Sato woofs and paws at his chest. The engineer winces and flinches away, because there’s a bit too much strength behind that movement.

“Hey, careful, okay? I’m a little smaller than you. And a lot less sturdy.”

The movement stops immediately, and Sato drops his head and paw down again, still looking at him with wide eyes. Tony sighs as he resumes his petting and scratching again, stretching his body until a few joints pop. Wow, he really feels better than expected. What a weird sensation!

“You’re an awesome sleeping buddy. Anyone ever tell you that, hm? Can’t say I’ve slept this well, in- Well, ever since Afghanistan. Which means it’s been a while.”

Which gives him pause, because huh. That’s weird. He’s been having trouble sleeping for a long time, and he didn’t even have a great sleep schedule before to begin with. It’s been a train wreck ever since he got back, so waking up feeling well rested is extremely strange. Something he could get used to, though.

“Think we could do that again in the near future? Seems like it did us both some good”, he adds with another huge yawn, and JARVIS promptly provides an update.

Sato is healing well, and by now his chance of survival has risen to 82%. Which is great, although Tony won’t stop worrying until they’ve reached about 99% percent. While the AI rattles off some more of the data he collected over the last fourteen hours (and wow, did he really sleep that long?), Tony gets up, gently pushes Sato away and then walks towards the freezer. JARVIS was nice enough to shut off one of the compartments a few hours ago, so now about a third of the meat is defrosted and ready for serving. Tony barely cringes as he cuts open the bags and unceremoniously dumps their contents onto the floor. Then, he steps away as the wolf devours his meal, ruffling his hair and shaking his head in an effort to clear his mind. Time to get back to work! He’s spent enough time lying around, it’s high time he starts to figure some shit out!

DUM-E is all too happy to hand him the arrows and whirrs happily when he gets praised for not dropping them more than two times on his way over. Tony only rolls his eyes before grabbing them and starting to work.

Soon enough, he realizes that things might be just a little more complicated than he thought they’d be. Because those arrows are made from some kind of metal he’s never seen before - _Because it doesn’t exist on this planet_. Which is awesome, of course, and he proceeds to analyze them in any way he can, running scans and programming holograms, then spends hours pulling those apart until he can look at the single atoms that make them up, and can’t help but whistle and squeal internally. It’s just so exciting! Then, he runs a few more tests and simulations, testing that metal with heat and cold, looks at the damage one of his repulsers would do, and the other way around - If they’d manage to permeate his Iron Man suit (they would, given enough power behind the movement, and that’s a little scary). Scratching his chin, he turns and starts calculating other stuff: melting point, density, heat of fusion, heat of vaporization, oxidation states, thermal expansion, all that fun stuff. It’s busy work, and he enjoys the way it makes his brain fire in all possible directions, hands flying through the holograms as he runs through a catalogue of questions and manages to tick off one after another. Still, even though he gathers a lot of new information, there’s one question that remains: Where the fuck did it come from?

He’s still grumbling to himself as he cuts open the last few defrosted bags and dumps the meat on the ground. All the more questions, and no answers in sight.

_Sir, your delivery has arrived_.

“Wow, time sure flies. Tell them to drop it on the doormat, we don’t need anyone else-- Hey, what about that cleaning company, by the way? Found anyone who’d be willing to get rid of this mess?”

_I have found a few company who would fit the profile you stated. They would be willing to, and I quote, “do whatever the hell you pay us for, no questions asked”. I strongly advise to not let them work unsupervised._

“Sure, we’ll keep an eye on whoever shows up. Be a dear and contact the best of the bunch, and set a date for, I dunno. Five days from now? We need some time to figure out a way to hide Sato for a few hours when they’re here.”

_Of course, sir. I will send the contact information as soon as the date is finalized._ _Also, Miss Potts is calling right this moment. Would you like for me to find an excuse for you absence?_

“Uh... No, you know what? Put her through!”

_Right away, sir._

“Good evening, Tony.”

God, it’s evening again already? Yeah, he’s kinda lost track of time. Whatever. Now it’s evening, and now he needs to be awake and ready for damage control.

“Good morning, Pep! How’s the vacation going? Sick of all those delicious cocktails yet?”

“No, I can’t really say I am”, she chuckles warmly, and he feels his heart flutter at the sound, “but I have to admit, the beach is looking a bit bland by now.”

“Means that it’s time to move to the next beautiful place. Gotta keep things fresh, you know?”

“Oh, sure, if-- Hey, what’s that sound in the background?”

And FUCK, that’d be Sato still busy devouring his breakfast, lunch, whatever, with gusto and enough growling to shake the entire floor. Which means Pepper can hear it. Which is _bad_. Cursing under his breath, Tony tries to gesture for the animal to be quiet, but of course it’s no use. The wolf only flattens his ears and growls even louder.

“It sounds like an--”

“Uh, I’ve been working on a new surround sound system. Testing it out in the lab right now. We’re watching a... Documentary. About predators around the world. Fascinating stuff.”

“Wow, it sounds really... Realistic. Could you turn it down for a moment, though? There’s something--”

“Sorry, no can do! Uhm, JARVIS is running some tests, well need all the data we can get, and if I turn it off now, we’ll have to start over. Gimme a moment, just gonna head upstairs. J, keep an eye on- Things, alright?”

With that, he quickly walks around the still feasting wolf (keeping his distance, just in case), and leaves the lab, running up the stairs. It’s a relief when the growling grows quieter in the background, and he allows himself a sigh.

“Alright, here I am! What was it you wanted to talk about?”

“I just wanted to remind you that your flight leaves at eight pm tonight.”

“Uh... What?”

“Your flight to Japan. Please tell me you didn’t forget this one, Tony! I’ve been planning this trip for almost a month, and Mr. Miyazaki is really excited to meet you. You _promised_ me you’d go there without protest!”

Yeah, Tony remembers. He also remembers the night she asked him to please, just _please_ go to that damn meeting, because it was so important for international relations with other companies, and he’d only smiled and agreed easily, because they’d just been kissing on the sofa, watching the sun set over the ocean... And now all of that comes back to bite him in the ass.

“Pep, I’m- I’m sorry, but I- I can’t go.”

He listens to her take a breath, and he already hates himself for what he’s doing to her yet again, but there’s just no way he can just leave for a couple of days - Not with Sato still living in his lab, because he knows that the wolf can’t stay alone for that long. He’ll go crazy, and that’s not even--

“Tony, you promised me you’d go on that trip. You _swore_ you’d go, without any protest! And now you just, what? Decided you’d rather stay home?”

“No, look, Pep, it’s not like--”

“Then what’s it like, huh? Please, enlighten me, because I really can’t think of any reason why you’d once again choose to break a promise that keeping really wouldn’t cost you much more than a couple of days of shaking hands and telling people about your beloved inventions!”

“I know, and I really wanted to go, but I--”

“But fucking _what_, Tony? What is going on with you, anyway? Rhodey has called me, you know? And he’s been trying to reach you, and you never answered!”

“Well, Rhodey left just a few hours ago, and it’s a real shame he didn’t tell you that, too.”

Pepper only scoffs at that, and Tony wants to punch Rhodey for a) talking to Pepper behind his back and b) not bothering to tell her that he’s fine and hasn’t blown himself up, yet.

“Good. Then tell me: What’s keeping you from going to Japan for the weekend?”

And here’s the problem: There’s no way he can tell Pepper the real reason. Because he has already decided he won’t tell her about Sato, because there’s just no way in hell that would end well. No, he’ll just- Have to lie. Again. And that sucks, but there’s just no way around it.

“Something came up, okay? Something- I really couldn’t put it off for even a moment! I swear, Pep, this is not just some project I’m getting lost in, this is so much more important, and I just _can’t leave_, okay, there’s no fucking way, and you just gotta trust me on this one, alright? I-I really can’t just pack my things and leave, and--”

“You know what? Forget it.”

“Huh?”

“Just- Just forget it, okay? I understand. There’s something- A new project, a new idea, a new theory. And it’s keeping you busy. So there’s no way I’ll ever get you drop it and leave, no matter how short the trip may be.”

Her voice is cold as ice, and Tony cringes away from it. He knows he’s fucked up royally, even though it’s technically not his fault. He didn’t ask for a giant wolf being dropped into his lab, and he didn’t ask for the wolf to be such a... _Nice guy_, and he didn’t ask for the warm feeling he now gets whenever the big guy wags his tail. But Pepper doesn’t know any of that. Of course she doesn’t.

“I gotta go - Make a few calls, find excuses for your absence, apologize to people. It’s gonna keep me busy, at least. So yes, it was good talking to you. I’ll call you once I’ve cleaned up this mess. Have fun with your newest invention. I hope it all pays off.”

She hangs up before he stutter out another apology, and he’s left with silence. And that sucks. Because fuck, she’s not just angry - She’s hurt, and disappointed. Tony knows he’s not the easiest guy to deal with on the best of days, but this is something different. This is worse, because she didn’t ask him as a colleague, or even her employer, but as her... Partner. And he promised, as her partner. And now he’s broken that promise. As her- Partner? Hopefully, he still is that. He isn’t all that sure, to be honest.

With a sigh, he drags a hand through his messy hair and slowly makes his way back down the stairs, back to the lab. Sato whines and wags his tail once he enters, but the engineer barely manages to force a smile as he pets the big snout sniffing his chest and face. He feels like shit, because this is something serious. He can still hear the ice in her voice, the disappointment and hurt she didn’t even bother to hide all that much, and it makes his heart stumble and breath catch in his throat. With a shudder, he leans forward and presses his head into the warm fur. And again, Sato stills and then presses close, bending his head over the engineer’s shoulder and pushing him further into his chest. Tony buries his hands in the warm pelt and holds on tight, closing his eyes as the dark thoughts wash over him.

Pepper is hurt. He’s hurt her, badly, and she let him know. Now, she’ll have to spend hours “cleaning up his mess”, ruining her vacation, and thereby being constantly reminded what kind of a human train wreck she decided to give a chance. And here he is, not even able to explain what’s really going on, and so she won’t ever know that he really meant to go on that trip, and that he didn’t back out on whim. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? That he’s already done that often enough for her to draw that conclusion by herself. And that was always something standing between them: Tony’s insatiable need for creating and exploring and just fucking _doing_, a need that never simmered down, was always a bright flame in his brain that kept him going and going and going, for days on end, until his body collapsed. Pepper knew that from the day they first met. She knows it now, but she doesn’t _get it_. And that fucking sucks, because there’s a rift between them he can feel shifting and stretching and pulling them apart right this moment.

And all of a sudden, the room is too small, and his skin is too tight, and his heart is beating too fast. Because Pepper might leave, because she might finally realize what she got herself into, and run away as far as possible. Leaving him by himself, the way it’s always been. But he doesn’t want that, and the idea of Pepper leaving his life hurts so much he groans into Sato’s coarse-soft fur, because his entire body fucking aches, and he can’t breathe, and all of this sucks! It sucks so much, and he just wants to call her back and apologize and somehow make her believe that this _really isn’t his fault, okay?_ But she won’t pick up, and he won’t be able to talk to her, won’t be able to make her understand, and she’ll go to bed being angry and hurt, and she will be right, because Tony always fucks up, one way or another! Sato is whining, gently but insistently pushing against his chest, trying to get him to calm down, but Tony’s thoughts are making his head spin, and it’s making him sick. With trembling hands, he clings to the wolf’s scruff and holds on for dear life, because it feels like he might float away otherwise. And the walls keep on coming closer, until there’s simply not enough air left in the big room, and he feels himself gasping as Sato whimpers and desperately licks at his face and nips on his clothes, and he wants to tell him that he’s alright, that everything’s fine, but he can’t lie to the wolf, and that doesn’t make things easier, it really doesn’t. He doesn’t want to be alone! He doesn’t- He _can’t _fucking lose Pepper, not right now, not ever! He suppresses a sob, and shakes his head, and he’s dizzy and feels sick and tired and terrified, because there’s a black whole opening in his chest and, and, and--

And this room is way too fucking small, and he can’t stay here. He needs to get the fuck out, before he suffocates. Pushing back, he blinks his eyes open and looks at Sato. The wolf is trembling himself, staring at him with wide, scared eyes, and Tony forces a grin onto his face, because fuck this, fuck all of this! And then- Then he swallows down his fears and misery and decided to do something really fucking stupid.

“Hey, Sato. How do you feel about going for a little walk?”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny thing: I just finished this story, so it's kinda weird posting this chapter right afterwards ^^" but anyway, it's finished, so we're good for the next few days. It's 18 chapters + epilogue, so I hope you'll stick around until then :)
> 
> Warnings: this chapter deals with a panic attack (not a full blown one, but that ugly feeling you get just before), and it kinda turned out pretty sad, talking about relationship issues and that kinda stuff. Just letting you know!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, anyway, and please let me know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

Tony is not an idiot. He knows that, and most people who know him at least a little better will reluctantly agree with that statement, all the while discreetly pointing at stuff that might indicate quite the opposite, but ultimately agreeing that, yeah, Tony Stark is not an idiot. Most of the time.

And then there are times like this, when he decides in a matter of seconds that, yeah, it’s a great evening for a walk on the beach. With the giant wolf he decided to take in. Because he’s on the brink of a panic attack, and needs to get out of the house, so sure, why the fuck not? And let’s take Sato with him, because the wolf needs to get out, anyway, so why not right now when his brain feels like it’s melting and his heart is beating out of his chest? Seems like a great idea!

“JARVIS, make sure there’s no one in a five mile radius, and keep an eye out for any potential witnesses. I don’t care what it takes, just make sure no one can see us during the next few hours! Got it?”

_Sir, I sincerely believe--_

“Awesome, so we should be good! Also, be a dear and get the suit ready. Just in case, though.”

The AI is busy listing arguments against Tony’s current plan of action (which isn’t much of a plan and more of panic fueled chain reaction) while the engineer bustles through the lab and gathers whatever he deems necessary (a bottle of scotch, the packed up suit, his phone, and after some contemplation, he also packs a blanket from his makeshift bed), and tries to calm his still racing heart. He’s trembling from head to toe, and he knows that he needs to get out, and he can feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. God, he feels awful! And he needs to get the fuck out of here. Right fucking now.

He manages to stuff everything he wants to take with him into the suitcase, and then he turns around and looks at Sato. The wolf is confused, he can tell. Probably stressing out because he knows, he _knows _Tony’s a hot mess right now, golden-brown eyes staring at him with fear and uncertainty. With a shaky grin, he walks over and pets the big head a few times, ignoring the way his hand shakes.

“We’re going for a little walk, wolfie. Are you excited? It’s gonna do both of us some good. I hope so, at least. Because otherwise we’re gonna be fucked. So let’s hope for the best, huh?”

Sato whines, but the engineer is already gone again, checking a few security cams close to his property, just to make sure. But there’s no one around, because it’s in the middle of the night by now, and Tony is pretty sure his closest neighbors (already a few miles down the road) are on vacation, and have been for a few weeks already. Perfect timing, then! With one last glance, he nods to himself and claps his hands.

“Alright, J, open the garage doors! We’re ready for action!”

JARVIS does as he’s told, though Tony is pretty sure he’s suppressing a heavy sigh. Sato flinches when the gate slides open, whipping around and scrambling to his three legs. The engineer quickly runs to his side, already shushing and petting the trembling flank. Yeah, he should’ve seen that one coming.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay! Everything’s okay, see? Nothing bad happening. Just opening the doors, so we can get outside.”

The giant wolf trembles from head to paw, but he presses into Tony’s touch ever so slightly. Tony is quick to press back, carding both hands through the warm fur, petting and scratching until the muscles under his hands slowly start to relax a fraction. A fresh gust of air blows into the lab, and Tony watches Sato lift his head and carefully sniff the air. The black nose twitches, ears pointing forward in interest. Good, that’s good. Tony stays close to him as the wolf slowly takes a small step forward, greedily inhaling the fresh, cool, salty air. A shudder runs through the entire huge frame, and then he turns back to look at Tony with questioning eyes.

“Cool, huh?”, the engineer grins as he pulls back a little and walks towards Sato’s head, scratching under the wolf’s chin, “that’s the outside world! You ever seen it? I mean, before you landed in here?”

No answer, but the wolf turns back towards the open gate. Some of the tension has left his body, and now he seems almost... Curious. Tony grins when Sato takes another wobbly step forward, inhaling deeply when a cool breeze ruffles his fur. His ears twitch again, and his tail is no longer tucked between his legs, but slowly rising again. Yeah, he’s curious, and he wants to know what’s out there, and that’s absolutely perfect, because the engineer seriously doubts that he’d be able to drag the wolf with him, should the animal really decide he doesn’t want to go. But this- This is going well. All things considered, at least.

“That’s it, buddy”, Tony murmurs as Sato slowly starts walking towards the open gate, still sniffing the air carefully, and hesitating whenever his hand leaves the warm fur beside him, “we can take it slow, there’s no rush. Just take your time. But I’m telling you, you’re gonna love it out there!”

It takes a few minutes, but finally, _finally_ they step outside, into the cool night. Tony breathes a sigh of relief as he stretches himself and lets his head fall back, looking up towards the sky. Stars upon stars, spread all over the darkness above them. A fresh breeze, and the smell of salt and sand. He can feel his heart rate slowing just a little bit, and breathing no longer hurts as much as just a few minutes ago. With a grin, he turns back to the wolf and gestures for him to follow.

“C’mon, buddy! I know my backyard is great, but there’s something even better I wanna show you!”

Sato hesitates for just a few seconds, and then he hobbles after the engineer. Trusting him so much, already. Tony does his best not to think about how little skepticism the animal seems to have left. It’s a little too much right now.

Getting the wolf to the beach takes a little longer than he calculated, because, well, Sato can only use three of his legs, and Tony has to make sure there’s absolutely no one around to- Well, see them and freak out and take pictures and ruin everything with just one social media post. But then, they finally make it down the hill, and they’re standing in the warm sand. Tony sighs again, bending down to take off his shoes, burying his toes in the new underground. He loves that feeling. Makes him feel grounded and connected to the earth, because sometimes he really feels like floating away in the worst possible moments.

Next to him, Sato is busy sniffing around, brushing his nose against the sand, Tony’s feet and legs, and then around himself as he hobbles a few meters ahead. The engineer watches him, just to make sure he doesn’t wander off too far, or get himself into trouble. He doesn’t have to worry, though, because apparently Sato still doesn’t feel all that safe, so he sticks to the one familiar face around - Which happens to be Tony. For a few moments, he stays just like that. Toes buried in the warm sand, breeze ruffling his hair and brushing over his overheated skin, cooling him down, as he looks at the ocean stretching endlessly in front of him, towards the horizon. Slowly, ever so slowly, he feels the fear ebb away, to a more manageable level, and he breathes deeply, inhaling the ocean air and remembering that he is here, right now, and he won’t float away any time soon. Digging his toes in just a little deeper and licking the salt from his lips. Yeah, he’s still here. Still alive, still whole. Or... Well, as whole as he was to begin with. That’s gotta be enough for now.

“You alright over there?”, he murmurs with a look at the wolf still busily sniffing around, “enjoying yourself, hm? You like being outside?”

When there’s only a small woof, he rolls his eyes with a scoff and sets his suitcase down. He doubts he’s gonna need the suit anytime soon, so instead he takes out his blanket and spreads it over the sand, sitting down and grabbing the bottle of scotch.

“Cheers, then. To your first time outside.”

He stares at ocean as he cracks the bottle open and starts to drink. He knows it’s not a good idea, but fuck, he needs it. He needs to calm down and not think a hundred miles an hour, not feel like he just pulled his heart out of a shredder. So he drinks, and drinks a little more, and the alcohol settles heavily in his stomach, and makes him want to throw up. Yet he keeps on drinking, until a good third of the bottle is gone, and the thoughts have slowed down to a manageable level. Then, he sets the bottle aside and falls heavily onto his back. Blinking his eyes open, he stares up at the stars once again, and folds his arms behind his head. Breathing, and not thinking about anything hurtful. Just looking at the stars. That’s more than enough right now. That’s almost more than he can handle in his current state of mind.

“Hey, wolfie. How ‘bout you come over here, huh? Could use a little love right now...”

Sato doesn’t react immediately, because by now he’s slowly trotting towards the ocean. Sniffing at the salty water, he shies back when the waves reach his paw, ears flat against his head. Tony chuckles as he lifts up onto his elbows and watches the wolf slowly creep back towards the water. It’s kinda cute, and pretty fascinating, because there’s a strategy to his movements, and soon enough, he’s back to sniffing the small waves reaching his paws. The engineer struggles up onto his feet and walks up to the wolf.

“Nothing scary about that. See? Totally harmless!”

Sato watches with wide eyes as Tony steps into the cool waves and splashes a little bit of water into his direction. A few drops land on his black nose, and he sneezes, shaking his head with a slightly indignant look. This time, Tony laughs outright, shaking his head as he scoops up some more water in his hands and offers it to the wolf.

“Here. It’s just salty water. That’s all.”

Sato sniffs at his cupped hands, but doesn’t seem all that interested, turning back to Tony’s feet still stuck in the water. Apparently, the engineer’s approval is enough to get rid of his doubts, because a moment later, he’s just about to set a paw into the water--

“Ah-ah-ah, you stop right there! Still got those bandages, and we can’t let them get wet, you hear me? C’mon, that’s enough exploring for now. Time for you to sit down with me and gimme some love. I kinda need it, you know? So, be a good wolf and cuddle me.”

Sato doesn’t need to asked twice, following Tony back to his blanket and letting himself fall down into the soft sand with a content sigh. Then, he lets himself fall to the side, snuggling into Tony’s side, gently licking his arms, hands, neck, face (and hair, which is just awesome), nibbling on his fingers when the man tries to push the cuddly animal away.

“Okay, okay, I get it, you like me, alright, I get that!”, the engineer chuckles, wrapping his arms around the wolf’s scruff and pulling him close, until the big head comes to rest on his chest, cold nose pushing under his chin and against his throat.

Then, they just lie there, breathing deeply, hearts slowing down as they enjoy each other’s warmth. It’s a good feeling. Different from what Tony has known so far, because sure, he’s spent a lot of nights pressed against another warm body, but this- This is mostly better. Because there is no need to talk, no need to explain, no questions he needs to answer. This is just a wolf looking for someone to cuddle, someone to feed him and take care of his injured body, and giving affection and trust in return. Completely different from any person Tony has ever spent time with. Better, in a way. He feels... Okay. Like he doesn’t have to be something he isn’t. Like he can just be himself, as much of a train wreck as that might be. Sato accepts him as a train wreck, too, and won’t judge him for it. Because he’s a freaking wolf, he doesn’t know any better. But that’s okay, too.

“‘S weird, you know? Having people around me. I’ve never really... Had that before. I mean- There was Mum. But she was... Well, she was there. And she loved me, I think. Maybe didn’t always know how to show it. Think I got that from her? Maybe. And Dad- Dad was there, but he never really was. He was always just kinda gone, even if he was sitting at the dinner table with us.”

Tony swallows at that, and turns to press his nose into the soft-coarse fur, breathing in the wolf’s scent, anchoring himself. Talking about his father isn’t easy, so he just never does it. He keeps it quiet, and does his best to forget. Which is hard, because whenever he looks into the mirror, that’s pretty much what he sees. His father. His future. And then he has to fight the urge to scream and smash that mirror with his bare fist.

“Never really learned how to talk. I mean, I talk a lot - You might’ve noticed that by now. It’s not that big of a secret. Anyways, I, uh... I talk a lot, but I don’t say much. And that was fine before, because Rhodey always knew what I was trying to tell him, or what I was trying to hide. He always got that. But it’s- Ugh, it’s easy to say “just open your damn mouth and tell her!”, because I’ve tried that! But it’s like my brain freezes and all I can think is _don’t say a word, don’t say a word, don’t you fucking dare tell her_! And there’s that damn fear, and it fucking paralyzes me, and then people get angry and leave, before I can explain to them that it’s just _so fucking hard to say shit like that_!”

Sato whines in the back of his throat, pushing closer and licking at Tony’s cheeks and lips, big paws gently scratching at his chest as he tries to crawl closer and press as much of his body against him. It’s a welcome distraction, because his mouth feels kinda numb, words dripping from his lips like poison, and he shudders as he reaches for the bottle again, taking a few gulps. The better kind of poison.

“And now Pepper. She’s- She’s perfect, you know? Or she would be, if only-- Wait, no, she _is _perfect! I’m the problem here. Because I always fuck things up. The good things. And Pepper... She’s the best thing that’s happened to me. Except for Rhodey, because, honestly, that man is a god sent, but other than that... She’s perfect. And Rhodey’s right, I kinda love her. As far as I’m able to, at least. But that won’t matter, because she’ll realize what a mess I am, and then she’ll leave. And then Rhodey’ll probably leave, too, and then...”

That’s when the bottle makes a return, and he drinks until half of it is gone. That’s a lot of scotch in a very short amount of time, even for him. He’s outside, without any help, but a huge wolf nobody is supposed to see, and he’s on his way to get passed out drunk. But he’s also sad and kinda lonely, so he doesn’t think about that all that much as he takes one last sip and sets the bottle down into the sand once again.

“And what about you? Gonna leave me, too?”

Sato blinks a few times as he lifts and then cocks his head to the side. He looks pretty confused, then leans closer and nudges his head against Tony’s chin, almost like he wants to ask why he would say something like that.

“Hey, it’s a totally justified question! You gonna leave, aren’t you? Just waiting until those injuries are all healed up, and then you’re just gonna run off. And it’s not like I can blame you. I mean why... Why would you wanna stick around, huh? With me, and the bots, and- Yeah, that’d be it”, he scoffs with a shake of his head, “that’s all there is! That’s all we’ve got left... And if you leave, it’s gonna be pretty empty again. Never thought of it that way before. But that what’ll be like. Empty... Kinda lonely, too, I guess.”

The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes how true it is. If Sato leaves tonight, the lab will feel empty. Doesn’t matter that he spent years in there without missing a single thing, now he’ll know that there’s something just _gone_, and it’s a feeling he’s well accustomed to, because there was always something just _gone _in his life, and Sato will just be the next thing GONE. And it will hurt, it will hurt a lot, and Tony is already dreading that moment, has been dreading it since the moment he looked at that giant wolf and didn’t feel scared but warm and _loved_. Because that’s the thing: He’s pretty sure that’s what it is for Sato. As much as a wolf is capable of love, he does love Tony.

Or maybe he’s just drunk off his ass and thinking way too hard about a freaking wolf looking at him with heart eyes.

“Whatever... We’re gonna see, but I know you won’t stay forever. I won’t blame you, though. You can go, if you wanna-- UGH!”

That’s all he gets out, because then Sato is all over him, whining and trembling as he desperately licks at his face, nips at his fingers and hands and clothes, all the while pushing impossibly closer as he whimpers in distress. Tony is a little dumbfounded, and he’s too drunk to do much about it, so he just lays there and hugs the wolf and tries to somehow calm the animal down.

“Hey, hey, what- HEY, careful, okay? What’s wrong, huh? Did something scare you, or did you- OW, OKAY, what the fuck... Hey, it’s alright, it’s okay, calm down, buddy...”

It takes him a while to actually get somewhere with his disorientated shushing and calming attempts, but after a few minutes Sato lowers his head again, still whining and licking at his throat, but no longer shaking quite as hard. The engineer is still not sure what’s going on, but he knows he needs to keep it from happening again, because that sure as hell was fucking scary. Now, as the wolf closes his eyes and snuffles against his wet skin, he cards both hands through the warm fur and does his best to stay calm as well. Because they don’t need another panic attack. One is more than enough for one day, for both of them.

“Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean to scare this badly. Or at all. Didn’t know you’d react like this, either. But we don’t have to think about that right now, okay? We can just... Stay here. Enjoy the fresh air. Look at the stars.”

The wolf lets out a long sigh as he relaxes even more of his weight onto Tony’s chest. The man can feel the powerful heartbeat against his own chest, against the arc reactor, and he breathes a sigh of relief of his own when he feels it slow down over the next few minutes. Carding his hands through the warm pelt, he turns his eyes back towards the stars and the endless sky. It’s a pretty sight, and Tony does remember some of the stories he read as a teenager, wondering about all the mythology behind his current objects of interest.

“You know, I’ve always liked looking at the stars. Always wondered about those stories people made up about them... It’s fascinating, you know? And people have always taken a special interest in them. They learned how to use them, too. Many years ago, sailors used them to find their way. They’d guide them home...”

Sato follows his gaze, looking up the sky, and Tony watches on as the shining stars get reflected in his golden-brown eyes. It’s a pretty sight, that’s for sure. And the wolf seems to be contemplating his words as his head stays turned towards the beauty above them.

“Looking for your own way home?”, the engineer jokes, but there’s a sudden sadness in those warm eyes, and he feels his throat close up.

Maybe Sato really is. He’s got to have a home somewhere, right? Some place he came from, where he was born and raised. Where he has family...

“Hey, I never asked”, he murmurs as gently tugs at the wolf’s scruff until he settles his head back down onto his chest, “what about your family? You got one? Or a pack? I mean, you gotta have one, in some way, at least. What about your mother? Or your father?”

At that, Sato flinches, and then he lets out that high, painful whine again, the one that means pain and distress and fear. A horrible sound, and Tony finds himself curling closer, with Sato moving closer as well, pressing into his embrace and whining lowly into his ear as shudders run through his huge frame. Tony really has a way of fucking things up, even with his wolf. But he also doesn’t back away and instead holds on tight as Sato cries himself out and thinks that maybe, just maybe, the wolf understands a whole lot more than he gives him credit for.

“Hey, it’s okay, buddy”, he murmurs as he presses his cold nose into the soft fur and breathes in deeply, “I get it, I really do. Parents can suck like that. Trust me, I know. Let’s just- Let’s not talk about it anymore, alright? Let’s just watch the stars for now, okay?”

And so that’s what they end up doing.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter ^^
> 
> Warnings: panic attack (or getting close to one), and some angst, but that's pretty much it. Also, Rhodey being a great bro, but what else is new?
> 
> Also, I know nothing about Corral Canyon Park, and have no idea if it's anywhere near Tony's house, but it was the best fit, so there. Let's just accept it this way...
> 
> Please let me know what you think, and thanks to those who left comments and kudos! I seriously love you guy <3  
Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

Morning comes with a horrible headache, and a taste in his mouth so bad he’s afraid something crawled inside and died in there. Ugh, disgusting! Add to that his crusted eyes and aching muscles, and he’s already off to a great start before the day has even begun. Awesome, everything’s just awesome. With a low groan he flips onto his stomach - And gets a mouth full of sand for his trouble.

“God, what the fuck is this shit?”, he yells as he struggles upright and blinks his eyes open.

He’s lying on the beach, small waves licking at the shore. The sun had already risen, and when he looks at his phone, he realizes that it’s already seven o’clock in the morning. Seems like he passed out at some point, which is not a surprise considering he emptied half of a bottle of scotch, and then spent the rest of his conscious time watching the stars, while Sato fell asleep on his chest. He vaguely remembers talking about Atlas, who’s the poor guy holding up the earth, and how there’s two versions of that story, and how that actually changes a lot if you really think about it... And the wolf listened attentively and kept on chewing carefully on his hand, wagging his tail whenever he scratched one of his favorite spots. But he listened, and Tony found that he remembered a lot more than he originally thought, and ended up talking for hours about his favorite constellations, until both of them fell asleep.

“Huh. Well, good thing we both don’t-- Sato?”

That’s when the fear comes back, but with a lot more force than even last night, because when he turns to his side to look at his wolf, there’s no one there. Sato is gone. And Tony feels himself starting to panic all over again.

“Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!”, he curses as he scrambles to his feet and looks around frantically.

His eyes wander over the beach, desperately searching for the giant frame, because he can’t be too far, right? He was there just- Well, fuck, he doesn’t know! He was there when Tony fell asleep, already snoring just a little, and the engineer remembers wrapping and arm around the wolf’s scruff and holding him close as he drifted off. But after that- Oh FUCK! Fucking shit, motherfucking hell, this is bad, this is so bad, this is absolutely horrible! Cursing himself under his breath he keeps on looking around as he fumbles for his phone and taps at the screen, turning it on - And that explains why JARVIS didn’t warn him when Sato disappeared, because he had no way to reach him!

“Where is he, J?”, he gasps, and the AI is quick to answer.

_It seems Sato left your side about two hours ago and has travelled south. If you turn towards your left, you should be able to see his footprints._

And yeah, he does. Those are some pretty impressive footprints, after all, and they are forming a trail clearly pointing into the direction the wolf took off into. Tony breathes a small sigh of relief, because that’s better than nothing. It’s still a pretty fucked up situation, though, and he can feel himself trembling as he thinks about all the trouble his wolf could have run into during those last two hours.

“Did anything happen to him? You got visual?”

_Not at the moment, sir. When he left my radius, he was still alright and didn’t seem all too distressed. I’d advise to quickly go after him, since I can no longer guarantee he has not encountered any witnesses yet._

“You don’t say”, Tony mutters as he grabs his suitcase and pulls it open, “keep an eye out for him, and tell me the moment you get visual!”

_Of course, sir. Would you like me to contact Colonel Rhodes, in case you need backup?_

“Yeah, call him. And tell him to, uh- Come here? I dunno, might be good to have some emotional support. Rhodey’s good at crisis management, after all. And this is definitely a crisis.”

With that, he steps back and shudders as the suit assembles and settles onto his body. The familiar weight presses him down into the warm sand, he cringes because he’s not wearing the right under armor, and that’ll sure leave a few scrapes, but who the fuck cares? He’s got a wolf to find, after all! With that, he takes one last deep breath, and shoots up into the sky.

He loves flying. Usually. Today, it’s a means to an end, and he can’t really concentrate on anything but the trail left behind in the sand as he shoots across the sky, along the deserted beach. God, he fucked up! If Sato runs into anyone, doesn’t matter who - It’s over! It’ll all be over, and then he’ll either be killed or locked away, only because Tony was such a fucking idiot! He can already feel his heart squeezing and his breath stuttering already, but he can’t allow himself to spiral out of control again, not right now!

_Sir, Colonel Rhodes is calling--_

“Put him through already!”

“Tony? What the hell is going on? JARVIS told me you--”

“I was an idiot, that’s what’s going on! Look, I took Sato outside yesterday--”

“YOU DID WHAT!?!”

“And now he’s gone! JARVIS lost sight of him, and I know I fucked up, but I really don’t need a lecture, I need your fucking help!”

Because Tony’s getting desperate here, and he’s close to panicking and just falling out of the sky. There are still paw prints in the sand, but what happens when they eventually stop? What if Sato decided to leave the beach and explore something else? Considering his injured state, he shouldn’t be able to run all that far in a matter of two hours, but that doesn’t really help, because there could be people, or cameras, or anything else!

“Shit, alright. I’m gonna put on the suit and come right over. JARVIS can guide me, I’ll meet you in about ten minutes, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, just hurry up already! Disconnect call, J!”

With that, the call ends, and he’s alone again. Oh god, what was he thinking? But he already knows that he wasn’t thinking at all. He was just scared, panicking and desperate to get out and forget, just forget! So he took the wolf outside and he got shit faced and then proceeded to talk about Atlas, and that’s his punishment right here and now. Maybe it’s karma again, and he’d accept that if it was, but what he can’t accept is Sato getting into trouble for his short comings, just because he was unlucky enough to grow close to Tony. No, he already told Rhodey that he wouldn’t let anyone take his wolf away, and he won’t allow that now, either!

“Any news on the wolf, J?”

_The trail ends about a mile ahead; I am currently searching for camera footage and checking news stations for any sightings of him._

“Okay, and make sure Rhodey gets here as soon as possible!”

Though he’s not even sure why he’d ask his friend to come here, because it’d be a lot smarter to split up and cover a bigger area, but Tony feels shaky and kind of brittle, and he’s scared to break apart any moment now. So maybe he just needs someone to be there and fucking tell him that things will be alright. Because he really needs to hear that. Because he’s scared shitless.

The landscape is changing now, and Tony cringes, because the paw prints are gone, now, as he reaches Corral Canyon Park. No more beach, but lots of soft hills and dry shrubbery. It’s pretty, if you’re into that kind of thing, but Tony never cared much for nature, especially now. He simply soars over the hills and keeps his eyes open for the wolf, even though he rationally knows that JARVIS is also busy scanning the area, and has a way better chance of spotting anything important. Considering that Sato is pretty big, he has still left some traces behind, barely visible imprints on the dusty trail, a few broken twigs and disturbed greenery. But so far, no big wolf in sight. The engineer curses again and tries to think like a wolf. What was Sato even looking for? Food? But he just had another big serving, right before they went outside! Water? Not necessarily, because JARVIS told him that wolves also get the water they need from feeding on their prey, so he should’ve been good, right? Right? Or maybe he smelled something especially-- But what-- Ugh, but who cares? He needs to find his wolf, and he needs to find him yesterday!

_Colonel Rhodes is approaching rapidly, and he--_

“I don’t CARE, JUST GET HIM HERE!”

Wow, he’s already yelling. That’s not good, but it can’t be helped, either. He’s too busy panicking and cursing his idiocy and his lack of impulse control, and his tendency to ruin everything good that happens to him. Pepper is already-- And now Sato...

“Tony, I can see you. Have you found anything yet?”

“Do you see him anywhere?”, the engineer hisses back as he looks behind himself and spots Rhodey in the distance, “no? Well, then I’ve found fuck all!”

“You better stop yelling at me, you hear me? It wasn’t me who took him outside for no good reason and then fell asleep on the beach!”

JARVIS can’t keep a secret, that’s for sure. Instead of getting even angrier, Tony just flies faster, eyes wandering through the park, looking for a patch of white-grey fur. But there’s nothing. He’s still following a barely visible trail, and so far JARVIS hasn’t found any news feed talking about a giant wolf appearing on Malibu Road, which might be a miracle, but he won’t question it for now. He’ll take all the good fortune he can get.

“Any idea why he ran off in the first place?”

“Nope, beats me. He was completely calm and happy when I fell asleep. Was asleep before me, in fact. And then he was just... Gone.”

“Then why would he--”

“I don’t know, okay? Doesn’t matter, either. We just need to find him, and then figure out a way to get him back home, that’s all that matters right now!”

Rhodey stays silent after that, but Tony suspects that he’d have a lot to say if the situation wasn’t quite so dire, and that only makes his heart beat that much faster as his vision starts to grow dark at the edges. He can feel himself slipping ever so slightly before he shakes himself and forces his body to comply, to stay in the air and focus on the road ahead.

“We’re gonna find him, okay? He can’t have gone too far, and JARVIS told me there are still more than enough traces--”

“Yeah, and he’ll be easy to find for other--”

“And there’s no one around right now, okay? I haven’t seen anyone all the way over here, and maybe Sato will be smart enough to hide from strangers.”

“Or maybe he’ll jump them and beg for some pizza! He’s not- He’s not _scared_ of people, Rhodey! He _likes _them, because he’s just a dumb, naive wolf, and he doesn’t know any better!”

“You mean he isn’t scared of _you_. We don’t know how he’ll react to other people. We only know that he didn’t like me all that much in the beginning.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s _so _much better! Then he’ll just growl at them and maybe-- Ugh, I don’t know, I don’t want to think about that, either! Let’s just- Just find him, okay, that’s all that matters, and then we can put all of this behind us!”

“Tones, you know--”

“SHUT UP!”, and wow, he can actually feel himself slipping right now, and it’s almost like watching from the outside, because it certainly feels like it’s happening far away, “shut the fuck up! Because you don’t know _shit_, okay, you have no _idea_ what’s been going on! You weren’t there, because I- I was so close to breaking, I was sweating and everything was hurting, and I just _had _to go outside, and I didn’t trust myself on my own, so I took him with me! And we where fine, just fine, and he stayed close to me, and then I told him all this shit, about starts and constellations, and about- About my family, and then I said he’d leave me, okay, I _said _that he was gonna leave me at some point, and then he got so fucking stressed, and what, what if he just--”

“Tony. I know- I know you’re scared, and I know this isn’t easy. But he’s a wolf, alright? He is a wolf, and he may be a smart one, but he doesn’t understand every word you say. And I highly doubt he took whatever you said last night as a reason to just get up and _leave_. Maybe he just saw a, uh, a bunny--”

“_A bunny_?!?”

“Or something else he found interesting! Who knows, he’s a freaking wolf, after all! Maybe he just got bored and wanted to explore his surroundings!”

“And where is he, then?”

“RIGHT THERE!”

Tony whips his head around, and fuck, Rhodey’s right! There is Sato, lying on a little patch in the shrubbery, curled into himself. The engineer curses colorfully and shoots downward, eyes locked on the wolf. As he gets closer, he can see Sato waking up in a matter of seconds, entire body jumping upwards as his head turns towards the sky. Tony breathes a sigh of relief, because the wolf is here, alive and safe, and he hasn’t lost him forever, and he can--

He lands just a few feet in front of the wolf and starts walking towards him. The relief he feels makes his hands shake inside of the gauntlets, but he doesn’t pay it any mind. He’s got a wolf to lecture, after all! To his surprise, Sato immediately shrinks back, ears flattening against his scalp as he cowers in front of him. Okay, that’s... Not quite the reaction he was hoping for. There’s no joy, no happiness, no relief on Sato’s part, but- Fear? Is his wolf scared of him, now?

“Hey, there you are! What were you thinking, huh? Running away like that, and I had-- Hey, whoa, what the fuck is going on?”

Because Sato is trembling now, ears darting between him and Rhodey, who’s landed just a few feet behind him, ears flat back, and tail tucked between his legs. He’s never seen the animal like that before. He doesn’t like it, not one bit. With a frown, he takes another step forward, and cringes when Sato makes himself smaller as he cowers and lowers his head towards the ground.

“Hey, what’s going on, huh? You feeling bad for worrying me so much? You should, but, uhm, you don’t have to--”

He jumps when Sato snaps into the direction of his outstretched hand, growling lowly. What the actual fuck? That’s never happened before, not even in the beginning! Tony stumbles a few steps back as the wolf shrinks into himself, trembling from head to paw, eyes roaming over Tony and then Rhodey, obviously confused and scared. But he knows them, doesn’t he? He _knows _Tony, and he- He loves and trusts him, too. Or- Does he?

“Okay, okay, calm down, alright? Not- Not gonna hurt you, jeez, calm down, wolfie!”

That works, at least a little bit - Until Rhodey decides to take a step closer, and Sato bares his teeth and growls at the two of them. It’s a low, dangerous sound, and Tony feels fear rising in his guts, because he suddenly remembers that this is not just his wolfie, but a huge, dangerous animal that would be able to bite him in half if he wanted to. Fuck. Fuck, they’re so screwed, and he needs to do something, he needs to make this better, he needs to fucking _move_! He takes a small step forward, reaching out to Sato, but the wolf now snaps into his direction, hackles raised and teeth exposed, and he needs to back off--

“Tony!”, and then Rhodey grabs his arm and pushes him back, raises his repulser and fires.

He can feel his heart dropping when the blast hits Sato straight in the snout, and then it cracks when the wolf lets out a roar and jumps forward. He can hear the sheets tearing as the immobilized leg touches back to the ground, and a moment later Sato charges. Both men jump out of the way, but Sato is fast, huge jaws snapping and catching Rhodey’s leg, biting down and throwing him to the side. Tony watches his friend crash through a couple of bushes, but he’s back up on his feet moments later, aiming at the wolf’s head, this time. Ready to fire.

“DON’T SHOOT!”, he yells, and that’s enough to pull Sato attention to himself, “don’t, just- Don’t hurt him! And-- Hey, hey... Easy now, wolfie, okay? You know me, you- It’s me, Tony!”

Sato’s ears twitch, and for a moment he stops growling. His golden eyes stare holes into him, and then they travel down, just a little, until they settle on his chest - On the arc reactor. Tony waits him out, and then the wolf lets out a confused whine, a shudder running through his body. He’s looking at Tony with fearful eyes, and the engineer wonders where the hell they went wrong, because it’s almost like Sato doesn’t recognize-- And that’s when it hits. Of _course_.

“Oh my _God_, I’m such an idiot!”, he mutters as he pushes the faceplate back and turns towards the wolf again, “it’s me, wolfie. See? Just me, no one else!”

The reaction is instantaneous. Sato lets out a distressed, yet relieved whine as he struggles forward on shaking legs, crashing into Tony, huge head pressing desperately against his chest as he licks at the arc reactor, pushing his cold nose under Tony’s chin as he pushes himself as close as he physically can get. The engineer lets out a long breath and allows his eyes to slip shut as he sinks to his knees, pulling the wolf with him. Yeah, okay, he could’ve thought of that. Of course Sato is gonna be confused and scared when two men come flying out of the sky, landing in front of him and then acting like it was the most normal thing in the world. Of course he’s terrified. Especially when he gets fired at. Yeah, that surely didn’t help.

“Take off the helmet”, he calls over his shoulder, and he can hear his friend mutter as he complies, “the suits scare him. He didn’t know who we are. Has never seen me in the suit.”

“Would’ve been great to know that a little sooner!”

“Yeah, well, you can’t always get what you want. Sometimes you gotta have your leg bitten off, first. You alright, by the way?”

“He didn’t hurt me, no. Didn’t even penetrate the armor, though I don’t wanna know what he’d be capable of doing if he’s really putting his mind to it.”

“Can’t help but agree...”, Tony murmurs as he cards his gloves hands through the sun-warm fur, “better try and keep you calm, huh? Wouldn’t want to lose any body parts just because you can’t see my face.”

Sato rumbles, but doesn’t move anymore. His giant frame is wrecked by shudders, but he doesn’t seem stressed anymore, just--

“Tired. Of course, you’re tired. Been hiking for a pretty long time, huh? Shit, and you tore your sling, too! Fuck, how’re we gonna get you back home now, wolfie?”

He doesn’t get an answer from Sato, but Rhodey steps a little closer. Smart man that he is, he’s taken off his suit completely and is now watching them with barely concealed worry. Ha, so Tony’s plan worked! Seems like he won’t be able to call his military buddies anytime soon, because that face, that face right there - That means caring!

“JARVIS says that leg can’t be moved too much, or we risk damaging it even further. Got any idea how to transport him back to the mansion without getting him to walk?”

Tony sighs as he tries to think of something. There’s no way they can somehow carry Sato back home. Even if both suits had enough power - They’d be anything but inconspicuous, not even considering that Sato might struggle, and that they might still damage that leg with a single rash movement. He might have his wolf back, but their problems have to only just begun. What a nightmare.

Just when he’s about to let out a heartfelt sigh and admit defeat (at least for an hour or two, because his brain feels so fucking empty and his head is still aching), Rhodey takes a deep breath and addresses him again.

“Hey. You think JARVIS could get us a moving truck to Malibu road?”

And just like that, Tony’s grinning again.

The plan is simple enough: JARVIS orders a moving truck, and arranges for the (kinda shady, let’s not think about it too much) company to leave it there without questions. Rhodey will put the suit back on, fly down there, and try to get that damn truck as close to their current position as possible. Tony’s job is the easier one (for now): He’ll stay with Sato, try to keep the wolf as calm as possible, and then help the wolf get inside of the truck. And then they’ll hope and pray that the animal won’t panic and tear the truck apart while they drive him back to the mansion. Sounds easy enough, right? Yeah, Tony has his doubts, too. And that’s kinda saying something!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this just before I leave, so there might be few typos (feel free to point them out!)!
> 
> We're getting closer to the end, so I hope you're ready for the last two chapters and the epilogue afterwards :)
> 
> Please let me know what you think, I love any kind of feedback, and thanks again to everyone who has left kudos and/ or comments! It means much more than I can say <3
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

“What were you even looking for, huh? I mean, Rhodey said something about a bunny, so- Was that it? A freaking _bunny_? Because if that’s it: That was the stupidest thing ever! You _know _I still have a freezer full of fresh, high quality meat, right? Uh, thinking about it, maybe that’s not all that true, considering what you ate just a few hours ago... But JARVIS surely has already ordered more! Hell, he might’ve managed to get you some elk! We definitely need to try that, next! And if you’re really that hungry, all you have to do is _tell me_ that you’re hungry, and boom! Meat delivery! I’m pretty sure- Wait, no, that’s not what this is about! Bad wolf, really, really bad wolf! You can’t just run off like that! I almost had a heart attack! I was so worried! And, worst of all: Rhodey will forever use this day for a never ending tirade of _I Told You So_! Ugh, he’ll never let me live this one down! And I won’t, either, if we’re being honest here. Jesus, do you have any idea how scared I was? I thought someone had already taken you, and locked you up in a very cliché looking evil laboratory, and we’d never find you again, all because I’m such a fucking idiot, and had to get drunk on the beach like some melodramatic teenager! That wasn’t a really nice feeling, you know? So, I need you to... Just not do that again, okay? Because that was really dangerous. You could’ve gotten into some serious trouble, because... Uhm, look, I know you haven’t met all that many people so far, and I can’t believe I’m the one telling you this, but: The world is full of assholes and shitty people. There are- Just _so many monsters_ out there, and most of them are only waiting for a chance to hurt you. Believe me, I’ve met enough of that scum, and I won’t show you the scars that left me with- Just trust me, they are there. You can’t just _leave_, do you understand? You need to stay with me, because, as weird as that might sound, I’m your best bet right now. I’ll keep you safe, for as long as you stay, alright? And I’ll do my best to find a way to- I don’t know. I’ll think of a solution for... All of this. But you gotta promise me you’re gonna stay! Are we clear on that?”

Sato blinks lazily at him, before leaning over and licking his face. Tony groans as the rough tongue glides over his sun warmed skin, because it kinda feels like the equivalent to “yeah, yeah, Mum!”, and that’s just not what he’s going for here. He was hoping for some wailing and begging for mercy and endless promises to be a good wolf from now on. Not... This! Because it might be a nice gesture, but it’s still pretty disgusting.

“You got anything to say for yourself?”, he mutters in a half-hearted attempt to look and sound like a person of authority, “no apologies? No begging for forgiveness? Nothing?”

This time, the wolf actually whines and pushes his big head under his chin, snuggling against his chest, one paw thrown over his out stretched legs. Great, just awesome. Wolfie is just glad his cuddle-buddy showed up in time for some premium affection. He doesn’t really understand that Tony went through hell, because he only went for a little walk on his own, and now he’s been found, and that’s all that matters.

“Still wondering what you went after, though”, the engineer murmurs as he leans back against the small tree they’re sitting under, “never seen a bunny at the beach before. Or a deer, or anything else! I think the only animals there are some seagulls and that ugly street cat that keeps on going through my garbage. Did she bother you? Do wolves even care about cats? Like... You know they can’t hurt you, right?”

Sato woofs, and he sounds almost amused as Tony scratches underneath his chin until his uninjured back leg starts to twitch. No, he doesn’t seem all that distressed. A little tired, but mostly happy, all relieved that Tony is back and no longer hiding in a scary looking suit. In his world, everything’s alright again. Mostly, at least. Sure, his leg still seems to hurt quite a bit (he pretty much sagged to the ground the very moment Rhodey took off again and he’s still favoring it), and he’s tired and exhausted, but he’s no longer alone.

“Yeah, must be nice being a wolf. Not much to worry about, huh? Just food and some cuddling, and everything’s alright! Then you go for a nice walk and get driven back home, without any trouble!”

Tony sighs wistfully, and then he remembers the state Sato arrived in, and how scared he was of Rhodey to begin with. He thinks about all those documentaries, about the struggle of surviving in the wild, and he remembers those pictures he saw of dead wolves and smiling assholes kneeling right next to them, for some reason proud of killing a beautiful animal with a rifle in a fight anything but fair. And then he thinks that maybe everyone, man or animal (or giant, seemingly teleporting wolves) have their package to carry.

“Least you didn’t get into any more trouble. We really would’ve been in one hell of trouble if you’d run into some unsuspecting hiker. That’s another thing, by the way, a new rule: You stay away from any strangers you might meet in the foreseeable future! You don’t go near them, no matter the circumstances. _I_ _mean that_”, he adds as he grabs the wolf’s head and turns it so they look each other in the eye again, “_you_ _stay away from them_, alright? Unless I tell you otherwise. And if I’m not there, you’re gonna hide until I get there. That’s an- An order, you understand? This is important, because I can’t promise I’ll always be there, so I need to be able to count on you!”

There’s something in the wolf’s gaze that makes him think that maybe, just _maybe _Sato understands. The big guy whines low in his throat, and then gently licks at his chin. That might be an agreement, or just another attempt to shut him up, but it’s all he’s gonna get right now. It’s a wolf, after all. And he kinda agrees with Rhodey on that: Sato might be smart, but he’s not able to understand every word he says. That doesn’t mean Tony can keep his mouth shut, because he somehow needs to make his furry friend understand. Sure, he’s gonna keep a closer eye on his wolf (he’s already thinking along the lines of somehow attaching JARVIS to Sato, permanently), but he can’t guarantee he’ll _always be there_, because, let’s face it, he’s Tony Fucking Stark, he’s a busy guy! And he can’t just stay in his house forever, just because his wolf might not like being alone for longer than a few minutes, he’ll go crazy! And then Sato will go crazy, too. And there’s other things to worry about: Like, Sato will probably need quite a lot of exercise once he’s healed up again, because wolves run a lot in their natural habitat. He can’t keep him in his lab forever, and then- Then there’s Pepper, who will eventually come back to Malibu, and probably want to stay - Which would be great, but that’ll only make things more complicated, and he has a feeling that Rhodey won’t keep his mouth shut forever, either, because of stupid moral bullshit, or whatever.

“God, you’re kinda more trouble than-- No, nope, that’s not true! You can’t help being a giant wolf, and you probably couldn’t help crashing into my lab, either. And you- You’ve been nothing but nice, most of the time, at least. You’re a good guy, you really are. Not your fault my life isn’t really suited for you.”

Sato woofs as he takes one of his hands into his snout again, nibbling on his fingers as he happily scratches at his leg until Tony hisses. He’s taken off the suit almost as soon as Rhodey took off again, and of course, the armor left behind quite a few scrapes and what will soon enough turn into bruises. Frowning, he scratches at his goatee, and wonders how long it’ll take his friend to get that fucking truck all the way up here, and how they’ll get Sato to move inside, and keep him quiet and calm until they reach the mansion again. And then he thinks about Pepper again, on the other side of the world, and his heart grows a little heavy again.

“She was kinda right, huh? About me having a new project. Not that you’re- Well, you kinda are. Whatever. She told me she hopes it’ll be worth all that trouble. You think that’ll be the case any time soon?”

He scoffs and leans his back, looking up at the twigs and leaves above him, with the light shining through and warming his skin. And he thinks about Pepper, who has no idea about what’s going on, and just assumes it’s a new kind of reactor or whatever else that’s keeping him busy, and how wrong she is. This time, at least.

“She never got it before either, though. The whole... Science thing. Or my science thing, at least. She never understood. It’s a shame, really, because that’s- That’s just _me_, you know? And she knows that, but she doesn’t... Understand. And that kinda sucks. It really does.”

Sato rumbles lowly, the sound vibrating through Tony’s body as he sinks a little lower and buries the hand that’s currently not being chewed on by those long teeth in the warm fur. His body slowly relaxes into the big frame covering him almost completely by now, and he lets out a deep breath.

“Maybe she’d understand if I ever bothered to actually explain it to her.”

Because now that he thinks about it, he never did. He never explained any of this to her at all, never bothered to tell her about the way his brains just screams at him some nights, thoughts on fire and muscles trembling all the way down to his toes as he races through his newest idea, newest theory. And he never told her that those are the only moments of peace he gets - Those long, lonely hours spent in the lab, far away from the world, alone with the bots and JARVIS and his millions of ideas. And so how’d she know about that thirst, that need, that unforgiving need to create and understand and take apart and put together again, how’d she ever understand that it’s what makes him _him, _what gives him life and reason and whatever else human beings need to keep on going?

Ouch. That... That really hurts.

“I really fucked things up. With her, I mean. Doesn’t matter it wasn’t even my fault this time, because it sure as hell was all the thousand times before this one.”

Sato whines as Tony shakes his head and drags a hand through his messy hair. The fear makes a return, though the wolf’s warmth and affection keep it at bay, for now. But he has fucked up, and there’s no way he can fix it right now. Knowing Pepper, she won’t pick up if he just calls, and won’t call him until she’s calmed down a little. That could take until she comes back to Malibu, easily. Maybe even longer, and that means he’ll have to wait and see. And that’s a position he really doesn’t appreciate. He hates it, actually.

“‘M gonna call her tomorrow. Tell her that I’m sorry, and hope she won’t tell me to go fuck myself. And hopefully think of a believeable excuse slash lie that’ll explain most of this.”

The wolf grumbles again, going back to nipping playfully at his hand (which is already covered in slobber, but whatever, he’s kinda getting used to that by now), and Tony throws a look at his phone screen. Seems like Rhodey got the truck and is now forcing it up the bumpy trail. JARVIS is reporting a lot of difficulty and cursing on Rhodey’s part, and that makes Tony happy. Good to know he’s not the only one struggling right now. Though he also hopes his friend makes it up here sooner rather than later, because it’s a miracle they haven’t been spotted so far, and he’d rather not strain their good luck any more than necessary.

“Seems like we still got a little while to go”, he mutters as he sets his phone back down and gently ruffles Sato’s dusty pelt, “hope you’re not sick of me, yet, ‘cause I won’t let you out of my sight until you’re safely back in the lab!”

The wolf only lets out a content sigh as he drops his heavy head onto Tony’s legs again and licks his lips. The engineer can only watch in disbelief as the giant animal seemingly falls asleep again, and then shakes his head slowly as his breathing evens out. And here he was, having a heart attack over that damn wolf! Scared and close to breakdown, while Sato simply decided to walk through the pretty scenery and then took a nap in the shade of a lone tree. Sometimes he (and his kinda dramatic take on situations) really does feel severely under-appreciated.

“Unbelievable. You’re just- Unbelievable.”

The wolf rumbles again, and it sounds strangely amused. Just his luck.

Rhodey _does_ make it up the hill, but Tony can hear him cursing from almost a hundred feet away. Blinking his eyes open, he turns to see an inconspicuous, white moving truck slowly coming closer - Or not so inconspicuous, since it’s moving through Corral Canyon Park, and that’s no place for a moving truck to be. Gently pushing Sato away, he gets to his feet and cringes at the cracking in his knees and the ache in his legs. Fuck, he’s actually getting old. Shaking himself off, he gestures for the wolf to stay down and starts walking towards Rhodey, who’s stopped the truck and jumps out.

“You owe me so much more than a fancy dinner by now.”

“Don’t I know it! Run into any trouble on your way?”

“Nah, nobody around. Guy who brought the truck didn’t say anything, either. I think we’re good to go.”

“Alright, then I’ll get the wolf. Can you grab the suit?”

“Sure. You think you can get him inside? And keep him quiet, too?”

“Dunno, I guess we’ll just have to see. He’s pretty tired, so maybe he’ll just... Fall asleep?”

The look Rhodey shoots him tells him all too cleary how ridiculous that idea sounds. Whatever, he’ll stay optimistic! Things have been going pretty shitty, so it might just be time for them to catch a break. One can always hope.

“Whatever. I’ll go grab the suit, just tell me when you’re ready. Unless you need--”

“Nope, I think we’ve got this. Also, I doubt he’ll appreciate your help as much as I would. Me and wolfie got this, don’t worry. We’ll be just fine.”

“If you say so...”

Tony rolls his eyes as his friend walks over to where he dropped the suit, while the engineer turns to look at Sato again. The wolf is sniffing into the direction of the truck, and looks a little confused, but by no means scared. That’s good, he can work with that. With a confidence he doesn’t really feel, he claps his hands together and walks towards the wolf.

“Alright, buddy, time to get you home! You ready to move again?”

Sato looks a little doubtful, but he does struggle up onto his paws again. He’s careful not to put his injured leg down, and hobbles towards Tony. The man keeps a hand outstretched and then buries it in the warm fur, slowly and gently guiding his wolf towards the truck. Rhodey has already opened the back doors and pulled out the loading ramp. Looking inside, Tony cringes. Yeah, that’s gonna be a tight fit, but they couldn’t get a bigger one, or Rhodey wouldn’t have gotten it up the hill to begin with. They’ll just have to make due, and it’s not gonna be a long drive, anyway.

Now comes the hard part: Getting Sato to move into the truck. Tony tries to not let his nervousness show, though he knows there’s no way he’s fooling the wolf, and steps close to the loading ramp.

“Okay, buddy, this is gonna be your ride! Wanna hop in?”

The flattened ears and the indignant scoff is answer enough, but Tony is nothing if not stubborn. So, he doesn’t lose his easy smile and hops in himself. Sato immediately blinks and hobbles just a little closer. Because here’s the thing: The wolf trusts Tony. And he’s gonna use that to his advantage.

“See? Nothing scary about an old moving truck! Wanna come at least a little closer?”

Sato growls, but he does limp a little closer, sniffing at the loading ramp carefully. His ears stay pressed against his head, tail tucked slightly between his legs. Yup, he doesn’t like this at all. Still, he does come closer, and takes a few moments to sniff whatever part of the truck he can reach. Tony lets him, reaching over to scratch behind his fluffy ears, and shushing him when he shies back just a little. Sato doesn’t move back, even going so far as to stick his head into the stowage, sniffing floor and walls and looking around nervously.

“Just a truck, alright? It won’t bite you, I promise!”

The wolf scoffs again, but he does turn around when Tony flicks his ear and heads even deeper into the truck. That gets him a slightly distressed whine as Sato struggles to follow him, apparently forgetting his doubts and fears as he scrambles up the loading ramp. Only moments later, he’s already inside, crowding Tony against the front wall and pressing his snout against the arc reactor.

“Easy, easy, okay? Rhodey, think you can close that ramp? Kinda stuck back here!”

Then, he focuses on calming the distressed animal, carding his hands through the dirty fur, shushing and murmuring and hoping that Rhodey will hurry the fuck up and-- And then the back door slams shut, and they are left in the dark. Sato is trembling right in front of him, fearful eyes illuminated by the arc reactor, and he whines when the truck rumbles back to life and starts moving moments later.

“Hey, it’s alright! We’re just going back home, you understand? So just stay still, don’t move, and we’ll be home before you know it!”

The wolf looks doubtful, and he keeps on trembling as Tony wraps both arms around his scruff and scratches the warm skin as he tries not fall over. Fuck that road! Both of them are being jostled, and Sato whines when his injured leg touches down, but Tony just holds on tight and tells him in a low, hopefully calm voice that it’ll all be over soon enough. It’s not something he actually believes, but hey, he might as well try! And Sato _does_ seem to settle down just a little bit, even going so far as to lie down on the floor and press against Tony almost desperately. The engineer is having a little trouble breathing, but he thinks that’s what you get when you lose sight of your wolf because you got drunk on the beach for no reason at all.

“Yeah, you just stay stil and wait until Rhodey has gotten us back to the house. Shouldn’t take all that long once we’ve reached Malibu Road again. And then we’ll just get you down into the lab and forget all of this happened. But not the stuff I told you, remember - Those rules? They still apply!”

No answer, and he suspects he might just have to repeat his new set of house rules (and he never had something like that before, so new experiences all around!) once they’re back and no longer have to worry about their impending doom. Sighing deeply, he tries (and fails) to get a little more comfortable, holding onto his wolf and praying that a) Rhodey will hurry up, and b) won’t get them arrested because driving a moving truck through a park like this can’t be legal. Ah, whatever! They’ll be fine. Or else, they’ll just have to put on their suits and hope those police men happen to be huge Iron Man fans. He really hopes it doesn’t come to that.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, couldn't update yesterday, but I'm back on track (I hope, we'll see about tomorrow)
> 
> This chapter is mostly fluff because I wanted to write fluff, so there you go. Next one will be angsty again, but the end is near! ^^
> 
> As always: thanks for any kind of feedback, it means the world to me! And I hope you enjoy he second to last chepater before the epilogue :)
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

By the time they make it back onto Malibu Road, Tony is just about ready to throw up. He’s sure Rhodey is doing the best he can, but fucking hell, this sucks! He and the wolf have been jostled around for what feels like _at least_ seven hours, and his stomach (which is absolutely used to being upset by now) is just about ready to empty itself when finally, _finally_ the fucking jostling stops, and the truck starts driving smoothly.

“God, what a nightmare”, he groans as he leans his head back and wipes a hand over his face.

His skin feels clammy and he grimaces at the sweat and the general feeling of _UGH_. He sees yet another shower in his near future, and then a whole bottle of Gin, because he’s too classy to get drunk on Tequila shots all on his own- Oh, who’s he kidding, he might throw in a couple of shots as well, after a day like this! Groaning, he stretches his aching limbs and thinks that after all this stress, he feels like an eighty year old man, and that really doesn’t-- And then he just sighs and lets his head fall forward, because it’s useless worrying about his age. Instead, he pets the still slightly trembling wolf and tries his best to protect an image of _calm and confident_.

“Not much longer now, then we can-- Uh, well, I can take a shower, and you can be a good wolfie and fall asleep and not wake up for about ten hours. The wolf whisperer needs a break, and a drink. Or maybe a few, if I’m honest. And you need to sleep.”

Sato huffs, but he’s still too scared to growl or grumble, so he just presses closer until the truck finally comes to a halt. Tony freezes and strains his ears, because yeah, they might’ve reached his home, or they might’ve gotten stopped by the police for whatever reason, and if that’s the case he-- He what, exactly? Not like there’s _anything_ he can do if there’s police waiting for them outside, other than smile and hope they’ll get a good picture for tomorrow’s front page. Just when he’s about to put on his best sarcastic grin, the back doors get pulled open, and Sato starts to struggle. Tony barely has a moment to scramble backwards as the giant wolf pulls back, growling and whining, and then he starts moving backwards, and he cringes when he falls off the loading ramp and down onto the ground.

“That could’ve gone better”, he mutters as he struggles onto his own feet and stumbles towards to opening.

Rhodey is moving back as the big wolf tumbles a little, shaking his head and fur as he looks around, ears and nose twitching nervously. Tony hurries to his side and pushes a hand into the dirty fur, pulling slightly until Sato turns around to look at him. His golden eyes are huge, and he’s trembling again, but they stay focused on Tony and he makes no move to bolt, which is good, because they really can’t do this again already.

“Hey, we made it back home! Awesome!”, the engineer cheers with fake confidence and ruffles the wolf’s fur, “and you didn’t crush me! And I didn’t throw up!”

“We really need to talk about your standards”, Rhodey mutters as he closes the back doors and turns to look at the strange pair.

Tony follows his gaze and grimaces at the sight that greets him. Both men are drenched in sweat, Tony is also covered in dust, same as Sato, but the wolf’s fur is also still full of blood, which is not good, to say the least. Yeah, it’s probably not a good idea to let the wolf inside again. If he ever wants the house to be anything close to clean again, that is. After a couple of seconds, Rhodey lets out a sigh and looks around in his front yard.

“You got a garden hose?”

“My gardener might have one, somewhere.”

“Cool, then I’m gonna go and find it. Might as well try and get all of us cleaned up before we go inside again.”

“FUCK THAT’S COLD!”

Rhodey only laughs as Tony curses his very existence, and vows to get revenge, as soon as he stops shaking. Sato doesn’t seem to mind the cold water quite as much, but doesn’t look all that happy when Rhodey aims the water at him, only huffs and sneezes and looks slightly indignant as it soaks his dirty pelt. The engineer takes that moment to duck behind the wolf’s huge frame and starts to cards his hands through the fur, working on getting more dirt out. Sato does like that as he rumbles and leans heavily into the touch, hard enough to make Tony stumble and curse. Water is dripping everywhere, and he’s still shaking because it’s just so fucking cold! But he clenches his teeth and powers through and promises himself he’ll douse every single pair of Rhodey’s pants in itching powder, including whatever he wears under his suit.

“You enjoying your shower?”

“FUCK YOU!”, he yells back, and Sato rumbles in that weirdly amused way, “and you better watch your back after this, or I’ll--”

But Rhodey has already walked around the wolf’s side and he gets drenched again. Jumping back from the big wolf, he shivers and curses and starts to run at Rhodey, who only laughs and takes off as well, turning around every couple of meters to douse Tony again. They spend the next few minutes chasing each other across the front yard, while Sato watches them confusedly and slightly worried, yipping and grumbling when they use him as a shield. Finally, the big guy has enough and leans forward, pushing Rhodey off his feet when he runs past his head, and that’s more than enough time for Tony to grab the garden hose and drench his friend with a manic kind of laugh.

“Hey, stop it!”

“Ah-ah-ah, I don’t think so!”, and then the game starts again.

Pretty soon, they’re both soaked through and shivering slightly, even in the warm sun, and both of them are out of breath. It’s Rhodey who finally raises both hands and takes a moment to take a deep breath.

“Okay, I’m kinda done. You open for a truce?”

“Sure”, Tony responds, and tries not to show just how winded he is from that little bit of running around, “gonna finish up with wolfie over there, and then we- Honestly, then we can do whatever, but my vote’s on movie and some take-out.”

“I can get behind that one. You need some help?”

“Yeah, I might. It’s a big wolf, after all.”

With that, they slowly get back to Sato, who’s still watching them with shining eyes and that strange air of amusement. Tony lifts the garden hose and gets to working the worst patches, cringing as he washes dried up blood and puss and dust and saliva out of the pelt. Now that the worst of the dirt is gone, it gets all the clearer just how pretty the fur underneath is - Or would be, once it’s no longer dull and hanging off his frame. But still, it’s pretty. White-grey, with dark patches on the fluffy ears the back of the snout. If Sato was in a little better shape, he’d be an awe inspiring sight. Tony kinda hopes that he’ll see that, one day.

Like he’s sensed his kinda scary thoughts, Sato leans down and playfully pushes his wet snout against Tony’s chest, making him stumbles backwards. The engineer tuts at that and pushes at the wide flank, and then both men curse when Sato shakes out his fur and covers them in water once again.

“Ugh, control your wolf!”

“And how am I supposed to do that, exactly?”

“Dunno, I thought you were the one who could handle him!”

“I’ve never washed a wolf before, how would I know what to do?”

“Then figure it out!”

Tony only rolls his eyes as he gets back to work. Sato has started to shiver ever so slightly, because by now his under fur is drenched as well, so they’ll have to stop soon enough. Carding his hands through the wolf’s pelt once again, he nods to himself and shuts the water off. Yeah, this will have to do for now. Sato shakes himself off once again - Just in time, because Rhodey’s already walking away to get... Towels, but Tony doubts even he owns enough towels to cover half the wolf, let alone the whole animal. Whatever, Rhodey will figure something out. He takes a moment to card a hand through his own hair, resulting in Sato leaning over and licking his whole face and hair, which is just awesome. He’ll end up spending half his life in the shower washing off wolf slobber, and the other half getting covered in said wolf slobber. He’s got so much to look forward to in the next... Weeks. Because that’s the time they’ve got left with each other, according to JARVIS, and that guy’s never wrong. Wow. That’s- A lot less time than he’d originally thought.

“You’ll be right as rain again in no time”, he murmurs as he pets the wolf’s nudging snout, “few more weeks, then you’ll be able to run around again, and, uh, hopefully not hunting anything, because that’d most likely end in disaster, but... Doing other wolfy things. Just a few more weeks, you hear me?”

Sato looks at him with wide, shining golden-brown eyes, and he woofs lowly. Yeah, he understands, and he doesn’t seem to like it all that much. Or maybe Tony’s just busy projecting once again. Wouldn’t be the first time. Shaking his head, he leans forward and rests it on the wet, cool fur and closes his eyes. He’ll worry about any of that when it’s come to that. For now, he’s tired and hungry and just about ready to fall face first onto the sofa and stay there for a couple of days. That’s when something hits him in the back of his head.

“C’mon, no slacking off!”

“... That’s how they motivate you at the military?”

“Whenever we’ve got giant wolves to dry off, yeah, pretty much.”

The engineer grumbles again, but he does grab the towel and start to dry off the wet fur. Sato rumbles happily and leans into their touch, even going so far as to close his eyes and sinking just a few feet towards the ground. Tony actually manages to dry off his side, and then he walks towards his head and looks around towards Rhodey.

“Hey, think you could stay with him for a few minutes? I gotta go down to the lab and grab a few things.”

“Uh...”

“I gotta dress those wounds again”, he says with a nod towards the now open laid cuts, from which they removed the bandages before turning on the water, “and I gotta immobilize his leg and shoulder again, that should be easier with your help. So yeah, just stay with him, make sure he doesn’t run off or put too much pressure on that leg, and we should be good!”

He turns and runs before Rhodey can do much more than stutter out a few doubts, because he’ll be back before they know it, and they hopefully won’t fuck up more than he could in such a short amount of time. After carrying two of the old boxes upstairs and setting them down next to the last delivery, he sprints into his bedroom and gathers a few clean sheets in his arms. Hopefully, they’ll be done in just under an hour, and then they can get back into the safe house and watch some movies and eat a shit ton of take-out. Yup, that sounds like a plan! A great plan, actually!

“When did you learn how to sew?”

“Seriously? _That’s_ the question you’re gonna ask?”

“Obviously. So, when did you learn?”

Tony sigh as he frowns and tries his best to concentrate on making the sheets stick together. After the wounds were cleaned and dressed (and _yes_, Rhodey was very impressed by his newly acquired skills, even though he tried to not show it too much, and _yes_, Tony was pretty proud of himself, because he’s _just that awesome_) they managed to immobilize Sato’s shoulder and leg without too much trouble (turns out having another set of hands is actually a huge help and makes things a lot easier, so he’ll have to remember that). By now, Tony’s has managed to get Sato to lie down on a dry patch of ground and is leaning over the shoulder, doing his best to staple and stitch those damned sheets together. While Rhodey is busy asking stupid questions.

“Just a few days ago. Had to stitch up those injuries, somehow.”

He grins when he thinks back to how good those deep cuts are already looking. JARVIS told him that, of course, but it’s a different thing to see for himself. The wound on his hind leg is almost closed, same for the cut on his neck, and while his ankles and legs still look naked and raw, there’s no infection, and the skin is slowly knitting itself back together. All good signs.

“Wow. You kinda suck.”

“One day”, the engineer mutters as he leans forward even further and grabs onto a lose edge, “you’re gonna pay. Ever heard of karma? I’d take that shit seriously, if I were you!”

“After all the shit we’ve been through during the last few days, I’m pretty sure I don’t have to worry about my karma for a while.”

“Must be nice.”

“Hey.”

“What?”

But Rhodey doesn’t answer until he’s walked around the wolf’s prone form and can look at Tony directly. Oh, great, that means they’ll have to talk about _feelings_ and _issues_ and all that shit! But Tony also knows that his best friend won’t leave him alone until he’s said what he thinks he needs to say, so after a couple of seconds he lets out a dramatic sigh and lifts his head, looking at Rhodey with raised eyebrows.

“After everything you’ve done for that wolf, I’m pretty sure you won’t have to worry about your karma, either. No, let me finish!”, he adds when Tony opens his mouth to argue back, “I know you’ve been... You haven’t always made the best decisions. But this, right here? This was- Selfless. You took Sato in without question, took care of him, _saved his life_, and not only that, but somehow you managed to befriend him, too! You’ve done so much more than anyone else would have, and that- That means something, okay? Karma-wise, I mean. You’ve done good. More than good. So don’t- Don’t forget about that, alright?”

He doesn’t give Tony a chance to reply, only claps him on the back and then turns to walk back into the house.

“I’m gonna order some food and pick a movie until you’re done. I’m thinking korean. And a few pizzas for Sato, too”, he calls over his shoulder with a smirk, and then he’s vanished into the house.

Tony is left staring after him, until Sato whines and nudges his leg with his snout. That’s enough to bring him back to this moment, and he scoffs before he starts to sew the sheets together again - And resolutely ignores the way his hands tremble just a little bit.

“Okay, maybe- Yeah, this was a bad, BAD IDEA, oh shit, slow down, will you? Just, uh, just like that, see, and don’t- No, DON’T touch that, just come here, yeah, that’s it, just come here, slow and steady, slow and steady, and-- Ah, fuck it, didn’t like that painting, anyway, good riddance, I guess- Uh, this one was another... Okay, we’ll just have to redecorate in a few weeks, never mind, so don’t look at me like that! C’mon, just... Yeah, that’s right, there’s Rhodey, just go over there, and we’ll be fine!”

Getting Sato into his living room is one big migraine, but Tony just needs to stay out of the lab a little longer. He needs some natural light, and most importantly, he needs his soft, comfortable couch, because his back hurts something fierce, and he wants to stay close to the alcohol, too. The giant wolf manages to knock about five frames off the wall and has broken a few... Whatever those things were, something expensive and artsy that Pepper made him buy, and he’ll just think of an excuse and buy some more useless stuff. Once they (howsoever) make it up the stairs and into the living room, the wolf yips happily when he catches sight of Rhodey and leaves Tony’s side to hobble over. His friend actually grins and reaches out a hand to pet the wolf’s head when he nudges his chest, taking care to set down the food cartons and drinks on the coffee table before fully turning towards the huge animal.

“Found the perfect movie for us, by the way.”

“Cool. Ready when you are.”

They settle down on the sofa, with Sato lying down on the floor right in front of them, resting his head between them and scratching at the sofa (and that’s another thing he’ll have to replace before Pepper gets back) until they both reach over and start carding their hands through his hair. Tony grabs a carton of food and starts to dig in, then swallows and gestures at the tv.

“Start the movie, J.”

_Right away, sir._

They both dig in, and Tony makes sure to grab a slice of the pizzas Rhodey made sure to order, and feed it to the wolf who’s already wagging his tail. When he looks back at the screen, he can’t help but groan and roll his eyes.

“For real?”

Rhodey just laughs as the opening credits roll across the screen. _Balto_. Great. He’s never seen that movie, but he’s seen that title while searching for a name for Sato, so he knows exactly why Rhodey chose that one. That asshole.

“C’mon, you gotta admit, it’s kinda funny!”

“Sure, whatever you say. That’s the last time you’re chossing a movie at my place, though.

“We’ll see about that...”

There’s no point in arguing any further, so the engineer settles into the sofa and concentrates on his food. Once Sato has devoured three whole pizzas, he finds that he can’t quite ignore the movie, after all, and while it’s obviously aimed at children, it’s... Charming. Not only that, but Sato has turned his head now as well, and seems the watching the screen intently. That in itself is not all that interesting, since Tony is pretty sure the wolf has never seen a movie before (he might be going out on a limb, but he just has a feeling about that one), but then there are some reactions... Sato’s flank is pressed against the length of the sofa, and Tony ends up resting his feet on his broad back after a few minutes, so he can feel whenever those strong muscles move. And that’s where things get interesting: Sato tenses whenever Balto gets mocked or shunned, and wags his tail at his interactions with a goose named Boris and a pretty dog names Jenna. He growls whenever the dog-bully shows up and whines when there’s a exciting scene. Which- Wow. Tony knew his wolf was clever and picked up a lot of clues, but he never suspected that would work on a movie, too. And while that’s pretty damn impressive, it also means he won’t be able to watch just about anything anytime soon.

“Hey, Tones.”

“Huh?”, he mutters and blinks a few times before turning towards his friend.

“I don’t have to tell you that you can’t take him outside again, right?”

“Nah, I think we’ve got more than enough movement for a while, don’t we, buddy?”

Sato isn’t paying attention, because Balto just found the stranded dog sledge and is now offering to guide them back him, and Tony can’t help but feel a little betrayed, because he just lost to an animated wolf on the screen, and that kinda stings. Whatever. The moments he opens another bag of meat, Balto won’t stand a chance!

“Yeah, but I kinda meant as in- Forever. You can’t let him out, doesn’t matter if he’s alright again. _Especially_ when he’s alright again.”

“Well, we can always talk about that when--”

“NO, no, we cannot talk about it then!”, Rhodey groans as he buries his head in his hands, “you can’t just let that giant wolf outside again! It’s manageable in here, but there’s no way you can handle him outside, too. And you just can’t take that risk.”

“Yeah, I know, I know. Not like I’m thinking about, either. Let’s just- Just watch the movie and drink a few beers, okay?”

Rhodey sighs, but apparently he’s too tired for a longer argument as well, so he settles back and accepts the cold bottle Tony hands over. Soon enough, all three of them are engrossed in the movie again (because, come on, that scene at the cliff is pretty intense!) and Tony feels some of the tension leave his body. Sato’s back is warm under his feet, and the steady breathing that fills the room makes him relax even further. Sighing under his breath, he slides down into the cushions and takes another sip of beer, watching the movie and wondering if Sato ever got bullied by another wolf, and if he, too, has someone out their trying to shine a light into the sky that’ll guide him back home.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Last chapter! Only a short epilogue left! I'm kinda sad, but: It's not the last we've seen of those two!  
And here's the thing: After this one, we're gonna check in with Loki and see what he's been up to in the meantime. THEN we're gonna back to Tony and his wolf, and spend some time there.  
IF THERE IS SOMETHING YOU WANNA SEE IN THAT PART OF THE SERIES (interaction, dialogue, scene, etc) PLEASE LET ME KNOW!  
I already have a few ideas, but I'd absolutely love writing some stuff you'd be explicitly interested in (as long as it fits the story). So yeah, if you've got ideas, lemme know :D
> 
> Well, as always I hope you enjoy! This chapter got pretty sad and kinda dark (mentions of suicide, depression, PTSD, all that stuff) so please be careful and read at your own risk! Thanks to anyone who left kudos/ a comment, and I hope you'll stick around for the epilogue!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

“FUCK!”

Tony startles awake and looks around frantically. His heart is pounding in his chest, and he knows, he’s just _knows_ that he’s about to panic, that it’ll only be a few seconds until he starts hyperventilating, and then he’ll probably pass out and--

There’s a whine, and then Sato presses his head against his chest, and Tony doesn’t hesitate before reaching out, burying his hands in the warm, soft fur, leaning his head forward and pressing it against the wolf’s forehead. Breathing in deeply, he shudders as Sato’s tongue licks at his chest, nudging him when the man takes too long to start petting him. Nightmare, it’s always those fucking nightmares... But he’s not alone right now, which is good, because he feels like drifting away, and while that might be the easier choice, he knows he can’t do that. Instead, he breathes in the wolf’s familiar, calming scent and focuses on the warmth he feels, the wet slobber soaking through his t-shirt, and the soft, comforting rumbling. The wolf lowers down onto the ground and rests his head on Tony’s lap. When the engineer blinks his eyes open, he finds Sato looking back at him with wide, attentive eyes. He looks concerned, or maybe Tony’s just being crazy again, but right now it’s a comforting thought, so he’ll just indulge himself.

“Where’s Rhodey, J?”

_Colonel Rhodes left about four hours ago. He asked to be called, and I quote “the moment shit hits the fan, understood?”, and I promised to relay the message. Would you like for me to contact him?_

“No, no, no, we don’t need anyone hovering right now!”, Tony mutters as he cards his hands through Sato’s fur once again and stretches himself until his joints pop, “think we’re good for now. More or less.”

Probably _less_, but what can you do? With a sigh, he slumps back into the sofa and just breathes for a few moments. Calming his racing heart and trying to push away those ugly images that always leave him weak and gasping for air. It’s over, but some days (especially nights) it’s hard to remember that. Sato whines again and nudges his knee, and wow, he’s been zoning out, and that can’t be good. He’s cold, covered in sweat and feeling like he just spent a few hours throwing up, and all of this sucks. Another nudge, and he has to blink a few times in order to clear his vision and focus back on Sato, who seems determined to pull him from his dark thoughts.

“How’d you know, huh? That I’m... Zoning out, and stuff? You sense that, too? JARVIS, can wolves just _feel_ that kinda shit?”

_I am not sure about wolves, but there are service dogs who can be trained to sense nightmares, panic attacks and other signs of distress, and learn how to comfort their owners accordingly._

“Huh. That’s pretty impressive”, he nods as he ruffles the wolf’s pelt and grimaces when his hand gets licked as well, “so, what? You’re gonna be my service wolf? That a thing? Gotta say, you’re doing a pretty good job so far.”

Sato woofs at that, wagging his tail and nipping at his fingers. He might not understand every word, but he does understand that Tony is slowly calming down, and he knows that he’s being petted, and that seems to be all that matters.

“Got those spikes again, J?”

_Indeed, sir. The pattern is almost identical with the one I recorded when you experienced your last nightmare._

“Show me.”

_Of course, sir._

The data and graphs appear on the tv screen, along with the video footage and yeah, that looks pretty much the same. Sato woke up a few moments before Tony started stressing out in his sleep, and the there are those spikes when he just looked at him, as if waiting for him to wake up on his own. Then he starts nudging and licking him, until the engineer startles awake, and the energy levels stay high until Tony starts to interact with him. Pretty much the same as last time. So interaction _does _seem to be a key component in that pattern. Doesn’t explain everything, but at least that part.

“Seems like we’re getting closer to solving that problem, at least. We’re gonna do a few more tests in the next few days, get some comparable data and then see what we can learn from that. But not now. We’re gonna stay here for a while, huh, wolfie?”

He gets an affirmative woof, and that’s all he needs, anyway. Leaning his head back, he draws his tense shoulders down and stares at the ceiling. There’s no way he’s gonna go back to sleep, not after shit like this, he knows that all too well. On any other day, he’d go down to the lab and spend the next 24 hours tinkering away his dark thoughts. Tonight, Sato’s head is heavy in his lap, and he’s too tired to move, and he also has a feeling that the wolf wouldn’t allow him to move anytime soon, anyway.

“I was locked up, too, once. Did I ever tell you that story?”

He knows he hasn’t, but he gets a gentle nudge, either way, so he settles into the couch and sighs deeply. His hand keeps moving through the soft-coarse fur rhythmically, scratching the skin underneath and listening to the steady heartbeat that’s thudding against his leg.

“Was a little while ago, actually. They took me, and locked me up in a dark, cold cave. They wanted me to build them a weapon - Because that’s what I did, back then, you know? I built weapons, and, uh, I mean, I stopped that, I no longer do that, just so we’re clear. But back then, they needed me to build that fucking... And I had to, because I tried to resist, but they...”

He shudders, and Sato whines in that distressed way, nudging his hand and scratching at the sofa until he continues. Doing a good job, honestly.

“Wasn’t a good time, to say the least. But I got out in the end. Other than- Other than Yinsen. He was in there, too, with me. Saved my life, more than once. But he got shot. And I thought- I thought I could save him, but then he told me...”, and at that he breaks off and drags a hand over his face and blinks his eyes a few times, because fuck, this still hurts!

He takes a few moments to calm down, and Sato doesn’t budge, pressing himself close into Tony’s body and licking at his trembling fingers. It’s good, it really is. Because it keeps him grounded, keeps him from floating away into the nothing. Finally, he takes a deep breath and continues.

“I think he wanted to die. Wanted to see his family again. Didn’t have anything left that made him want to live. That’s a scary thought, isn’t it? Nothing left to live for... Just wanting to let it all go... Though I’d be lying if- If I said it never crossed my mind.”

Tony is not-- He doesn’t want to _die_, per say. He’s not that kinda guy. But there are nights when he can’t sleep and just sits on the floor of his bathroom, covered in sweat and shivering, the taste of vomit on his tongue, and he wishes it’d all just _go away_. Those are the worst moments, because he can’t tell anyone, has never even said it out loud, because he kinda suspects that that’s the kinda thing JARVIS would not keep quiet about, and he doesn’t want Rhodey and Pepper and Happy to hover for the foreseeable future. But it’s true. There are moments when he wishes for nothing more than just peace and quiet and _nothing_, because it gets too much, and he’s just one man, and he gets tired and sad and lonely.

Sato whimpers at that, pushing himself up and licking at his face, nudging his chin and nipping at his ear until the engineer flinches away and tries to pull the animal off of him. It doesn’t work, Sato ends up crawling halfway onto the sofa and draping himself over Tony, pressing him down into the cushions. The whole wolf is trembling as he whimpers and whines and buries his nose under the man’s chin, scratching at his hip and chest. Tony curses and thinks that yeah, it seems kinda familiar, reminding him of last night, when they were talking- No, when _Tony _was talking about his family, his father.

“Hey, hey, not that again! I thought we were past that, buddy”, he murmurs as he gently tugs on the wolf’s scruff and tries his best to straighten up again, “and I wasn’t even talking about my dad. Whoa, okay, stop that scratching, and just, uh- Just forget I said anything, alright? It’s not that important - HEY!”

All he gets for that suggestion is a distressed cry and a wolf that snaps at his fingers and bites down just a little too hard. Tony cringes when the skin breaks, and he knows it’s not that bad, but Sato immediately freezes and shies away, staring at him with wide, scared eyes. Quickly shaking off any anger and surprise he might feel, he wipes his hand on his pants and takes a look at it.

“Don’t worry, it’s not that bad! Here, wanna see?”

He holds out his hand and lets the wolf sniff it. Sure, there’s a small wound, and a bit of blood, but it’s really not bad. He’s hurt himself worse working down in the lab countless times. Also, he knows that Sato would never actually hurt him like that, so he’s not worried about stuff like this happening again. An accident, because the wolf got so distressed, that’s all it is. Sato takes care to lick away all the blood and then looks at him intently as he takes the hand back into his maw, nibbling at it. Tony forces himself to smile, because it’s clear that Sato feels bad for hurting him, and he won’t make him feel any more guilt than he already does.

“Yeah, we’re still good. Nothing bad happened. You just got a little stressed out, right? I won’t hold it against you, promise.”

Sato rumbles, and then he nudges his chest again, as if reminding him that he was talking before their mutual breakdown. Of course he’d remember that, little shit that he is! But Tony just sighs, and drags his free hand through the warm fur, settling back down again.

“Where were we, hm? Oh, right: I got out. I got back, and I became Iron Man, and I like to think that I’ve changed my life. I’m... You know, I stopped building weapons. And I’m currently focusing on clean energy, and shit like that. And I’ve been helping people, as Iron Man, too. So yeah, I’ve changed my life, but I- _I _haven’t changed. I’m still... Me. I’m still- Broken. And a mess. I always was, but I was hoping that if I changed my life, I’d- I dunno. Maybe that I’d just be okay, too? That didn’t happen, though. I’m still me. And that’s awesome, because, c’mon, I AM awesome, because I’m Tony Fucking Stark, so yeah, pretty damn cool... Except for the days when it’s not, because being Tony Stark can really suck, too. It often does. Like right now. Right now it fucking sucks.”

He’s looking outside, out onto the ocean. Something that people don’t know about houses at the sea front: While it’s looks pretty awesome during the day, at night, the ocean turns into an endless, black abyss that seems to swallow any light. At least it fits his current mood. He feels... Alone. Like he’s floating in darkness, looking for a light to guide him home. For a star to guide him back home, wherever that might be.

“You think I should... Tell Pepper about any of this?”

Sato lifts his gaze. His ears are twitching, and he cocks his head. The engineer scoffs as he grabs onto his fur and pulls him back down into his lap, petting his forehead a couple of times.

“Yeah, how’d you know, right? You’ve never even met her. You only know what I told you about her, but believe me, she’s awesome, that part was true. I just... Rhodey always tells me to just _be honest_, _be yourself_, but what if ends up being the thing that ruins whatever we have right now forever? I’m not _easy_, not by any means, but I’ve never really explained any of this, not- Not the really bad stuff. And things- Things change after you’ve admitted shit like that. I’m just not sure if I’m ready for that to happen.”

Tony never lied about his short comings. Quite the opposite, he wore them like an armor, presenting them to the whole world. He’s kind of a whore, he’s a genius, but he’s also pretty rude, doesn’t care for most people, has never shown interest in a serious relationships - The world knows all of that, and they greedily soak it up, they absolutely love it, because people gravitate towards those who have flaws and still shine brightly. But this... The whole PTSD-fuckery is something he’s kept under tight wraps, because it’s not a flaw, it’s what might one day be his undoing. It’s something he can’t handle, something that leaves him crippled and gasping for air. It’s not something you just _tell_ people, no matter how close you might be. Rhodey- Rhodey knew, because he was the one who picked up the pieces, who helped him off the bathroom floor and stayed with him so he could catch a few hours of sleep, and he never really asked, because it was pretty much self explaining.

With Pepper - It’s different. _Very _different. She has... She’s never been confronted with things like that, except for the shit that went down at Stark Expo, and he’s still rather busy hating himself for that, too. But she doesn’t lead a dangerous life, she doesn’t get exposed to hatred and violence and all the darkness out there in the world. And Tony- Tony has seen it, has felt it, has fucking _blasted through it_, but he hasn’t escaped unscathed. It has almost torn him to piece and left him with more scars than he can count, both visible and hidden away. He’s... Tainted, in a way. Which is okay, and he can live with that. This is the life he ended up choosing. But Pepper never wanted any of this. She never asked for a boyfriend who’s Iron Man and a mad genius in one human mess. She didn’t ask for the fear and danger, and he wants to try and keep it all away form her. And if he tells her- He’s not even sure what he’s most afraid of. He doubts she’ll leave him, because she’s the kind of woman to stick with someone like him, because she believes things will get better. Maybe he’s just afraid of how much it will hurt her to finally realize that they won’t.

“Got any idea how to, uh, solve all of this?”, he murmurs after telling Sato all of this as he stretches his back and neck, “you’ve been pretty good at crisis management, so far. Pretty relaxed, most of the time. You wanna share something with me?”

Sato yawns and then nudges his chin, rumbling contently as he rests his head in Tony’s lap again.

“Apparently not. Can’t say I’m surprised.”

Still, he keeps on petting and turns his head to look at the sleepy animal. Sato seems close to falling asleep again, because sure, he’s spent a while out there, wandering around, then the whole ordeal with the moving truck, then he got bathed and afterwards they watched a rather exciting movie (Tony is kinda bummed about the fact that he fell asleep before the end of that movie, because yeah, it was kinda good), so it’s no wonder he’s ready to pass out. Looking at his phone, he realizes that the sun will rise in about two hours again, anyway, so there’s no use in trying to go back to sleep. Instead, he leans back and waits for the wolf to fall asleep, so that he can then try to get up and get some shit done without a giant animal trotting after him. JARVIS ordered some more supplies, so he should have a needle that’ll be suitable for drawing blood from Sato, and once he’s got that, he’ll be busy for the next twelve to fifteen hours, easily. Then, there are a few more simulations he wants to run on those arrows, and then it’ll be time to feed Sato again. He’s looking at a few busy days, and that’s jsut what he needs right about now. Busy time. No time left to think and wonder and worry.

“Wolfie update, J.”

_Sato’s wounds continue to heal at a rapid pace. The breaks in shoulder and leg are still growing back together in the best possible way, considering circumstances, and so far my earlier estimation for a complete recovery time of three weeks seems to hold up. Chances of survival at 87%, considering the remaining risk of infection and his still malnourished state._

“Yeah, but we’re working on that, aren’t we?”, Tony murmurs as he slowly, carefully drags his fingers from Sato’s snout all the way up between his ears, and then back down again, “he’s already gained some weight, and we’ll just make sure he eats as much as he needs over those three weeks. With that appetite of his, it shouldn’t be that much of a challenge to fatten him up again.”

_I have already taken the liberty of ordering about two hundred pounds of meat again. I have also succeeded in ordering some elk and deer meat this time, as well._

“Good, good.”

Tony watches Sato fall asleep, fingers still running up and down his snout, and the wolf lets out a happy rumble as his head grows heavier with every passing second. Just when the engineer is about to stop, he blinks his golden eyes open again, leans forward and gently licks at the arc reactor.

“Huh, you really like that thing, hm? Wanna tell me why? I mean, I get that it’s a pretty awesome piece of tech, but how’d you even know?”

Sato blinks up at him, nudging his chest, and Tony can’t help but smile. And then, because he’s already feeling like his chest has been flayed open, he pushes the wolf back a little and then lifts his shirt with shaking hands, pulling it up over his head. Stripping for a giant wolf might be the weirdest thing he’s ever done, and that’s saying something.

“Remember when I told you about my scars? Kinda time I showed you that I wasn’t just talking shit.”

All of a sudden, Sato is wide awake again. He leans forward once again, cold, wet nose sniffing at his scarred chest. This time, he takes a long time exploring his warm skin, and when he finally opens his maw and licks at his chest and arc reactor, he does so with utmost care and caution. Tony shudders at the touch, because that tissues is sensitive as fuck, and he’s never let anyone touch that part, except for Pepper when she had to switch out the reactor for the new one. This, though, this is very different, and it gets too much after just a few seconds. Tony lets out long breath and leans forward, wrapping his arms around Sato’s neck and pulling him close.

“Thanks, buddy, but I don’t think it’s that easy. But I know you’re trying, and that’s what counts, right?”

The wolf huffs at that, and it sounds pretty exasperated for an animal. He nudges his chest a couple more times, then lifts his head and makes sure to lick Tony’s cheek, too, still careful and gentle, as if letting him know that he gets it, and the engineer thinks that maybe that’s the case. He’s seen those injuries, after all, and he doesn’t even want to think about what Sato might’ve been through before he came here. So yeah, maybe the big wolf gets it, better than most people, at least. Or maybe he’s busy reading way too much into the smallest gestures, but whatever, it makes him feel better, and who’s gonna judge him? JARVIS? Yeah, not so much.

“Yeah, you try. I try, too, with you, I mean. And I think it’s safe to say that it’s been going pretty well for us, hm? Doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, we’re rocking this shit show. We’re making the best out of all of this, the two of us. “

The wolf rumbles again, and Tony think that yeah, they’ll make it all work. They’ve survived so far, and more than that. They’ve grown close, and the wolf hasn’t just made it, he seems content, and trusts Tony in every situation they’ve found themselves in so far. With a smile, Tony leans forward and presses a kiss to the wolf’s cold nose. Sato blinks surprisedly and sneezes, which _ew_, but the man laughs all the same, shaking his head.

“Yup, we’re just that awesome. Doesn’t matter how long you’ll end up staying, we’re gonna make the best of it. And it’s gonna go great, you hear me? Things are gonna be just awesome for the two of us, Sato. I promise.”


	19. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is! The End! Yay... but I'm actually a bit sad. Was a lot of fun to write, and I'm excited to continue ^^
> 
> Again, if there are scenes/ dialogues/ situations you'd like to see, let me know, I'll try to make it happen!  
Now, I am going to take about a week off, since I'm also working on my current NaNoWriMo project, and then I'll get back to this AU and probably post the next installment in about 7-10 days (checking in with Loki).
> 
> Huge thanks to anyone who left kudos, comments, or just took the time to read, I hope you've all enjoyed it and will stick around for the ride!
> 
> Love,  
Goldie

The world is quiet once again.

It hardly is, anymore. Other than on the island, there are so many sounds now. Even now, in the darkness before dawn, there is the sound of slow, even breathing, along with a strong heartbeat, and that hum, that wonderful hum that makes his heart grow warm and light. He is not alone, not anymore. It is a curious feeling, since he was alone for so long before. Closing his eyes, he allows his senses to hone in on those sounds, small as they might be. They shine in the darkness and make him breathe a little easier as he listens and calms.

Tony is close, and Sato sees no reason to fear. As long as the man is by his side, he knows there’s nothing bad waiting to happen. As long as he stays, he will be protected and cared for, comforted and held close whenever he gets scared, cold or hurt. As long as Tony is near, Sato is safe. Blinking his eyes open, he turns his head and looks at the small form curled up in front of him. His face is smooth and his body is still. He is resting now, and Sato will keep watch, in case of another nightmare. While Tony protects him during the day, he will do his best to do the same for him during the darkness of the night. Seeing the man so distressed makes him tremble and shake and cower in fear, and his heart aches, because he understands the pain he feels. He feels it, too, but he doesn’t show it. He is not sure he even can. Sato feels lost and adrift, but Tony is his tether to this new, terrifying world. Without him, he’d be gone already. But with Tony staying by his side, he knows he can survive, no matter what will happen. With a deep sigh, he curls just a little closer and presses his snout against Tony’s glowing chest. Yes, he feels safe. Still confused and lost, but safe, and he won’t ask for more than that.

Stretching his free leg, he grumbles lowly at the dull ache he still feels deep in his bones. The King’s fetter and warriors almost tore him to shreds, and he knows it will be a while before he is back to what he once was - Strong and fast and persevering. But he no longer doubts that he one day will be healthy and whole again, because Tony didn’t kill him that first day, but decided to treat his wounds and nurse him back to health. He is still not sure who has to thank for that, other than the man himself. Sato has hardly ever been treated with kindness, and never from anyone but his father. Yes, he will heal, and he vows to find a way to let Tony know- Just how grateful he is for his company and warmth, his never ending patience and his way of smiling in even the most dire of moments. He wondered for a while why Tony seems so convinced that he doesn’t understand a word he says, when it’s the exact other way around. Still, it might be a blessing, as he is rather sure the man would not talk to him as much if he knew the truth. This way, the wolf gets to listen and learn and sometimes provide comfort whenever he feels the inventors heart tremble and his hands shake where they card through his fur. He almost forgot how wonderful that could feel: To be touched, petted and hugged, and the warmth it makes grow in his chest. But Tony has brought it all back, after... After he ran away. After he left behind everything that he knew, and paid the price.

Sato suppresses a whine as he shivers, and then he feels the hand still resting on his scruff tightening ever so slightly. There it is again, the fear and desperation that has been clawing at his heart whenever he allows his thoughts to wander too far. Closing his eyes, he breathes in Tony’s scent deeply and tries not to drift away too far. He knows that he’s being watched, that he’s always being watched, by the ghost living in this home. Sato doesn’t fear him, though. It’s a peaceful ghost, friendly, even, and he knows Tony trusts him, which is good enough for him. There are no harmful creatures hiding here. Sato is not scared of any living thing harming him, he knows he’s far away from any world he might’ve ever called home. No, it’s what he left behind in order to escape.

Father...

He feels his heart squeeze and his chest ache as the face of his beloved father appears behind his closed eyes. Green eyes shining with mirth and warmth, as he smiles at the wolf and promises to show him a new game afterwards. His hands working frantically to clean and heal his wounds, knowing all too well that nothing he does will last for much longer than a few hours, tears rising in his eyes, but never falling. Father... And he clenches his jaws as he bites back the urge to tear his mouth open and let out a long, loud howl, calling out to his father and begging him to come and find him. But he knows better than that. He _knows _he’s too far away, in another world even his father never told him about, and that’s what might be saving him, as the Allfather doesn’t seem to be following him. He hopes he won’t, will simply forget and let him live in peace. If he does come after him one day... The wolf knows he will have to run away once more, because he would never dare to endanger the man he’s come to love. Facing off against the King’s army’s all on his own would be madness. He knows he stands no chance of surviving a battle like that.

But his father... He knows he’s too far away, because he can no longer... He still feels that pull, that gentle tugging at his heart that was always there, guiding him towards his father. Now, it’s barely there, and he wouldn’t even be sure in which direction he’d have to go. He’s also too weak to travel throughout the worlds as he pleases, so he has no choice but to stay and wait. One day, he will be strong enough again, and then he will have to make a choice, he knows. But he is not sure what he will choose, if he thinks about it. Just a little while ago, he would’ve taken the first chance to run off and search for his beloved father. Now... He looks at Tony’s slack face and wonders if he will be able to simply leave him once his body has healed. Or if he will stay, for as long as he can, until Odin’s butchers appear and he will have to flee without a choice. He doesn’t know. The longing for his father makes his whole body ache worse than the injuries ever could, yet when he dares to think about leaving Tony behind, all alone in a cold house, he feels himself hesitating. Sato is no longer sure what he will do. Shuddering, his presses himself against Tony’s chest and forces himself to listen to his heartbeat, strong and steady, and the by now familiar humming that soon fills his head and mind and thoughts. Sato is scared, scared of losing this man and everything he has come to love, scared of never seeing his father again, scared of being hunted down and killed and his head ending up above the king’s throne in the golden palace.

Tony murmurs in his sleep, and he feels a warm, gentle hand brush through his fur, and he blinks his eyes open. The man is looking at him, eyes clouded and mind still slow as he smiles at the wolf.

“Hey, buddy. What’re you still doing up, huh? Aren’t you tired?”

Sato is tired, he has been for a long time, though for very different reasons. He wishes he could tell the man, wishes he could make him understand the same way he does, he wishes for a mouth to speak with and for Tony to listen and then- Then he wants to be held and understood and protected, if only for a few moments. But Sato is a wolf, and Tony won’t understand him this way, so he only whines and presses himself a little deeper into the man’s warm, welcoming body.

“Aw, what’s wrong, wolfie? Had a bad dream? Don’t worry, it wasn’t real. You’re here, and it’s all over. You’re safe, they won’t lock you up again, they won’t hurt you again. I promised, remember? I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Never.”

Sato listens and sighs as Tony starts carding his hands through his fur, soothing his aching heart. The man might not understand, but his voice is calming, and his warmth and affection make it easy to let his eyes slip shut again. Resting his head in the curve of Tony’s body, he feels the man curl around his head and keep on shushing and soothing him. Focusing on the man’s love and care, he feels himself slowly falling back asleep accompanied by soft voice and gentle touch he’s come to trust so much over the last few days.

It’s a peaceful moment, and it’s enough for now. There will be a time when he has to make a decision, when he will have to choose, but it’s not tonight. Tonight, he will bask in Tony’s love and be grateful for the peace he has come find, far away from home, at the end of the world he has never known. It’s more than enough for now.


End file.
